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McGovern: Hard to Elect Female President
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press
March 26, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Sen. George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, said Tuesday it would be easier for a black man to be elected to the White House than a woman.

The former South Dakota senator has endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom he has known for decades since she helped campaign for him. She is in a close race with Sen. Barack Obama for the party nod.

''I have a feeling that in this country where we're at today in our thinking, it's going to be harder to elect a woman than to elect a black man,'' he told The Associated Press on Tuesday. ''I wish that weren't true ... I'd love to see Hillary as president.''

McGovern says he occasionally chats with men who don't think a woman is ready for the responsibility.

''Some guy will say, 'Well, I think that's too big a job for a woman, I don't think she can handle those terrorists,''' he said, adding that he seldom hears the same thing said about a black man.

''I think we've never had a woman so well-qualified that's on the national scene,'' he said of Clinton.

McGovern, who centered his 1972 campaign on his opposition to the Vietnam War, has been critical of the Iraq war, calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney earlier this year. He said Clinton and Obama have reasonable plans for ending the conflict.

He says he likes Obama but didn't know much about him when he endorsed Clinton last year.

''I think very highly of him now,'' McGovern said.

The former senator, who maintains a home in South Dakota, was in Washington pushing lawmakers to add more money for international food aid to a multibillion dollar farm bill. McGovern has long been an advocate for the hungry and helped start a program that donates U.S.-grown crops for school lunches in impoverished countries.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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