This morning in the car, I heard on the radio that McCain had chosen Governor Palin of Alaska as his running mate. When the announcer then employed the feminine pronoun "she" I nearly gasped. A woman? He chose a female running mate?!? Awesome! Tell me about her credentials, radio people!
"Well, she's adamantly pro-life and won the governorship on an anti-corruption platform after blowing the whistle on some crooked party big-wigs. She's done an effective job of cleaning up Alaskan politics since her election."
Cool. What else?
"Uh, she's a woman."
Yes . . . you said that already.
"She's a really sincere woman. And she won a beauty pagaent once. And since she's soft-spoken, if Joe Biden gives her a hard time in the debates he'll look sexist."
.
.
People, is that the best you've got?
"Actually, we're kind of faked out, too. Maybe McCain was trying to appeal to Hillary supporters, except Palin is pretty much the exact opposite of everything Hillary stood for. The only thing the two have in common is that they both possess a pair of X chromosomes."
Yeah--I've never even been a Hillary supporter, and I still feel kind of demeaned. If McCain thinks pro-Clinton women will vote Republican just because some female (any female) is on the ticket, that's kind of insulting. And if they do it, the insult is merited.
Sigh.
I love the idea of a female VP, but I don't want it to happen like this. For all that I'm not a Hillary fan, it was rather breathtaking to see a woman seriously considered for the presidency because of her undeniable leadership skills and experience. On the heels of that heady historical moment, it's painfully anticlimactic to see a woman tapped as a potential VP despite her lack of skills and experience, just because she's a (safe) woman.
Neither outside observers nor people familiar with Alaskan politics can imagine Gov. Palin actually running the nation or squaring off with Putin, and those are real considerations when her running mate is over 70. This choice pokes oil-rig sized holes in anything the Republicans say about Mr. Obama's level of experience. The more I think about the whole thing, the more it irritates me, especially since I can't imagine Obama ever making such a superficial choice.
And despite all this, I will probably vote for McCain anyway. Which just makes me want to cry. Hard.
And that's a whole other post in itself . . .
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I had heard her name bandied about some weeks back, but it was never very serious. They said that McCain's strongest Obama argument was the lack of experience thing and that Sarah Palin would undermine that, particularly when acknowledging John McCain's age and spotty health history. The Republicans needed their own WOW moment after Obama's incredible speech last night. They got it today: I hope there is greater motivation than that.
She is also the mother of five, the oldest enlisted in Iraq 1 year ago on September 11th, and her youngest is just 18 months old. And he has Down Syndrome. I am the first to say that a woman can do whatever the heck she pleases, but I can't help but think that raising a youngish family and finding time to be the leader in training of the free world may not exactly be compatible. Even the dreaded Nancy Pelosi has five kids, but she did the political thing AFTER they were gone.
In short, this is a huge gamble for the GOP, which may prove brilliant or just insane. Either way, a person of color or a woman is headed to the White House come January.
About. Freaking. Time.
After the park, I went home and read a little more about her. Frankly, I am just not impressed at all. At first I was pleasantly surprised. I agree with her beliefs and admire her ability to establish herself politically. But after more consideration, I am questioning what McCain found appealing in her. If he was really set on a woman VP, was she really the only option?? I do agree with many of her beliefs, but her lack of any experience is a major concern. How in the world is she going to negotiate internationally with foreign governments when all her experience includes being a mayor of a small town, serving on an Oil conservation commission, and then governor for 2 years?
On top of that, she has a 5-month old down syndrome child. Something about it really bugs me that she won't be home caring for him. I don't know. I will still vote with McCain, but I hope he has regular physicals and eats plenty of vegetables!
P.S. "oil-rig sized holes" - CLASSIC!
i guess i better do some research ... it seems to me this vote is gonna be a clothspin vote. UGH!
The announcement certainly did give them a WOW moment, but I suspect it will be just that: a moment. If they had chosen a female running mate with more substance, the excitement might have lasted a lot longer.
While I admit part of me still gets a little warm 'n fuzzy when I think of having a female VP, I'll actually be disappointed if the Palin choice boosts McCain's numbers long-term. Voting based on someone's gender (or race), regardless of their qualifications, seems like the ultimate cop out to me.
It irritates me to see intelligent women disparaging another intelligent woman because her journey to the political spotlight didn't take her through the mire of politicas as usual. We don't know if John McCain's motives were chiefly to win women voters, blue-color voters and the religious right. Perhaps he found her a breath of fresh air in an era of pompous policitians filled with hubris. I think many of the political commentators of our day could be described that way as well.
Me again. But nicer. I guess I'd like to see America governed by Americans, not politicians. That's how this country started, with men stepping out of their line of work to serve their country. If we've reached a place where that is no longer possible, then Heaven help us.
I agree with Christie about regular Americans running America, particularly in light of the intentions of our founding fathers. But this is very Obama-like philosphy: seeing the world as you want it to be instead of as it is. As nice as it sounds, it isn't always very useful for dealing with practicalities.
The only way to get back to "regular" Americans is to impose term limits and to mandate caps on election spending (so that money and politics don't elect people to office, majorities do). The problem with term limits is the argument that lobbyists will actually be running the government, as they can stay forever. Serious caps on election spending wouldn't be bad: your primary knowledge of the candidate would come from public, unsponsored debates instead of party-affiliated advertising.
And it depends on what you mean by regular. Obama's roots would certainly not make you think "president in the making." McCain is a POW. Palin is pretty blue-collar. For all of our talk of "regular" people, this list of candidates if the most decent cross-section of America that we have seen in a long time.
I apologize if my remarks sound judgmental toward Mrs. Palin. I have been a working mother (yes, at times, full-time), and I know that Christie was raised by a working mother. But just like Obama's racial ancestry; the Republican elephant in the room (so to speak) may just be what people really view as the primary role of women in society.
As LDS women, how do WE view that primary role?
These are big issues. As women have migrated away from "traditional" roles and careers, competition for well-paying jobs is tough because a much larger segment of the population is working for those jobs. As women enter the work force, increasingly often by choice and not necessity, two income families are becoming the norm. Such disposable income drives up, among other things, home prices and cars. (If you have more money, you are willing to pay more for things like luxury items.) This self-perpetuating cycle then forces more and more women to work just to make a mortgage payment. Mothers get fewer and fewer choices about staying home full time. The women's movement, I think, was primarily about choice. Unfortunately, there were a lot of negatives that came with that too. As more women have CHOSEN to enter the workforce, those who do not want to work find it ncreasingly difficult to "stay" home.
I'm not sure how I really feel on this one. Maybe I'm just trying to stir up a little bit of controversy to start my Monday off right.
I think she is a pretty valid candidate and though she may not have experience, neither does Obama, they're both pretty lacking, but like she said in her speech: Mayor is like city organizer, only with real responsibilities (or something like that). Anywho, I enjoy your blog.
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