Janice Hahn was still hurting early in the Democratic convention week over the fact that her candidate, Hillary Clinton, did not get the presidential nomination and won't be on the ticket. "I think this may have been the last chance in my lifetime to elect a woman president," said the Los Angeles councilwoman.

But that doesn't mean this ardent Democrat will consider a vote for John McCain, now that he has chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running-mate.

"I think when all is said and done it was always about more than having a woman in the White House," Hahn said by phone shortly after 11 a.m. Denver time, as her plane home was about to begin taxiing. "John McCain's priorities are just not in line with most women's. The stakes are just too high. Hillary said it in her speech. 'Were you in it just for me?'"

Hahn may be typical of most women Democrats in Denver over the last week. She is the first woman elected to office from a family of staunch Democratic men (all of whom served, however, mostly in nonpartisan office): Her late father Kenneth Hahn, the legendary county supervisor; her uncle Gordon Hahn, a state assemblyman and councilman; and her brother Jim Hahn, Los Angeles mayor, city attorney and controller.

McCain can be assumed to be trying to reach Hillary Clinton supporters who are rooted less deeply in Democratic politics than the Hahns.

2005 photo of Janice Hahn by the Times' Al Seib