Working-class women may decide who makes it to the White House, and while Sarah Palin piqued the interest of many undecideds, her gender isn’t enough to override their main concerns over soaring food and gas prices, unaffordable health care, and record-high unemployment. The Los Angeles Times takes the pulse of blue-collar women in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
“I wanted Hillary to win so bad, but I saw Sarah, and it just didn't work for me,” said a $10.50-an-hour cook, who worries about sending her daughter to college. "I have no retirement. Obama understands it's the economy. He knows how we live." One waitress dubbed Palin “the perfect candidate,” but decided to vote for whoever addressed gas prices first. “And—I’ll be danged—it was Obama,” she told the LA Times. (More Sarah Palin stories.)