BALTIMORE -- Sen. John McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate has many asking the question if gender trumps politics.

Watch: Female Democrats Swayed By Palin? Forum: Palin Good Pick For McCain?

WBAL TV 11 News I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller spoke with some female members of Maryland's Democratic delegation who were disappointed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's candidacy didn't succeed.

In introducing herself to the country on Friday, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin referred to the groundbreaking political campaigns that have come before her, including that of Geraldine Ferraro as a vice presidential candidate in 1984 and Clinton's campaign for president this year.

"It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all," Palin told voters.

Miller reported it was an obvious play for a coveted bloc of voters -- women who stood by Clinton to the very end, including four women from the Maryland delegation to this week's Democratic National Convention. They were part of just a handful of delegates in Denver who cast their votes for Clinton, not Sen. Barack Obama.

Miller spoke by phone with Maryland Delegate Marcia Massey as McCain made Palin his vice presidential pick. She said she wasn't intrigued by the pick at all.

"She's not qualified. It's a gratuitous attempt to gain the women's vote, and it's an affront to the Hillary voters," Massey said.

Palin's politics are conservative. She's staunchly anti-abortion and a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, Miller reported, and that's what matters to Clinton supporter and Maryland Delegate Nancy Floreen.

On Thursday, Floreen called the notion ridiculous that Palin's presence on the Republican ticket could persuade her to jump the aisle.

"As I understand it, she's pro-life. Some people have said she's in the Dan Quayle category. I don't know myself, but no, of course not," she said.

Floreen said she thinks the Palin pick is designed to appeal to Republican women. Members of the Maryland Republican Party have yet to give comment to 11 News on McCain's pick.

Some in Maryland have compared the pick to former Gov. Robert Ehrlich's selection of Kristen Cox as his No. 2 in the 2006 gubernatorial race. She was also a little-known female candidate with solid conservative credentials, Miller reported.