ELIZABETHTOWN — At least initially, John McCain seems to have shaken things up with his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his running mate. The news appears to have affected the thinking of at least some women voters in Kentucky.

“I think it’s great!” said Nancy Fields Pence, a retired branch bank manager and registered Republican from Elizabethtown.

“I think they need a woman in office,” said the former Glasgow resident just before she posed for pictures with Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell before a parade in Elizabethtown. “Things would be more organized and they’d stop and ask directions if a woman was there.”

Pence, however, said her desire for a woman on the national ticket didn’t extend to Democrat Hillary Clinton. She said she would’ve supported Republican nominee John McCain over either Democratic nominee Barack Obama or Clinton.

Irene King, a registered Republican from Hodgenville, said she’s “very impressed with Palin.”

“As much as they say she doesn’t have experience, she didn’t come across that way,” King said of Palin’s speech when McCain introduced her Friday as his choice. And McCain’s decision may have secured him King’s vote.

She said she would’ve considered voting for Clinton had she won the Democratic nomination. “I think Democrats made a mistake.” King said Clinton’s background and experience would have prepared her well to be president.

The semi-retired, part-time plant manager for Nationwide Uniform in Hodgenville isn’t fazed by what some see as Palin’s lack of experience.

“We’ll see as time goes on, but her background as anti-abortion sells me,” King said. “I’m not a pro-choice fan. I believe life begins at conception.”

Not every woman, including at least one Republican, is so sure about Palin, however.

“She’s pro-life, which I am, but I’ve never heard of her before,” said Sue Hobbs of Richmond, a nurse who is moving to Elizabethtown temporarily while her daughter attends Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

And in a bit of a switch, the Republican Hobbs is undecided how she’ll vote because of her dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush, the war in Iraq, and her concern McCain will continue Bush’s policies.

“I’m right on the fence,” she said. “I’m very unhappy with Bush and if McCain gets in there, it will be the same old same old.”

She said her decision would’ve been easier if Obama had chosen Clinton as his vice president.

“McCain is awfully old. If he were to die . . . ,” said Hobbs, her voice trailing off, as she discussed Palin.

Palin’s inexperience also troubles Gerri Perkins, a decorator from Elizabethtown who is a registered Independent.

She said she was shocked by McCain’s choice and sees it as an effort to attract Democrats who were Clinton supporters in the primaries, something she said may produce some success. She said Palin’s selection, however, isn’t likely to affect her choice this November.

“I’m disappointed in all my choices,” Perkins said. “I’m leaning toward the Democrats because I don’t want any more of Bush, and McCain voted with Bush 90 percent of the time. I just hope Obama is serious about change.”

She said she questions the sincerity of nearly any politician. “You vote and you hope,” she said. But she is pleased that an African American can be the nominee of one of the major parties.

“It’s a great step forward,” she said. “We espouse ourselves as forward-thinking people and a melting pot, but this shows the rest of the world what America is really about.”

Can a black man be elected president?

“I think he can win,” Perkins said. “I think people are so tired of what’s going on and a lot of people are inspired by his youth and his exuberance.”

Not Dolores Harrell of Leitchfield who wanted Democrats to nominate Clinton.

“I’m disappointed Hillary Clinton didn’t get nominated,” she said. She also thinks Clinton should have been Obama’s choice for vice president rather than Delaware Sen. Joe Biden.

She said she isn’t opposed to Obama but preferred Clinton and she’s impressed McCain named Palin as his running mate.

“I think it’s a wonderful choice, although I’ve never heard of her before yesterday,” Harrell said. “I heard a little bit of her speech yesterday, and I think she intends to do something about the oil problem. I believe she will help (McCain).”

Perhaps she’ll help enough to get Harrell’s vote.

“At this point I just don’t know,” she said. “I may be voting Republican although I’ve voted Democratic all my life.”

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. He can be reached by e-mail at rellis@cnhi.com.