Dole, Feinstein Top Veep Poll
Former presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole was the choice over New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman among Republicans, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend were the top Democrats in a poll measuring public interest in a female vice president.
The poll was conducted by the White House Project, a nonprofit group urging the election of women to top national posts.
Dole received 58 percent of Republican support to 18 percent for Whitman. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas finished third with 10 percent.
Feinstein received 24 percent of Democratic support to 23 percent for Townsend. Rep. Maxine Waters of California finished third with 16 percent.
Though released in the midst of the 2000 election, the findings are not intended as a call for either party to choose a female vice presidential nominee this year, said White House Project President Marie C. Wilson.
"Our goal is a long-term goal," she said. "We're looking way beyond this election. We're looking to 10 years from now having one, two, three, four women" running for president.
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In addition to commissioning the poll, the White House Project asked Americans to weigh in on 15 possible vice presidential nominees on ballots published in Parade magazine and posted at the group's web site. Some 17,000 votes were cast over 26 days in that unscientific exercise.
The four women mentioned most often were Dole, Whitman, Feinstein and Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, the Army's highest-rankig female officer. Those four will share the cover of Parade magazine this Sunday.
Because her party affiliation is unknown, Kennedy was not offered as a choice in the telephone poll of registered Democrats and Republicans. Kennedy made news recently by accusing a fellow general of sexual harassment, a charge the Army is investigating.