Friday, August 29, 2008
McCain chooses running mate
6 comments
Sarah Palin, conservative Republican governor of Alaska.
Did not see that one coming. Nobody seems to know too much about her, since she's really only been governor for less than two years. So far, I know that she is avidly anti-choice, and belongs to Feminists for Life (UGH!) As governor, however, she vetoed a legislation that would have barred Alaska from granting benefits to partners of gay state employees. So, in essence, she doesn't seem to be a neo-con, but she holds plenty of conservative views. She also supports drilling for oil in her own state.
This could either be a good thing or a bad thing. I think some McCain supporters will be highly upset because no one saw this coming, and Sarah Palin lacks a lot of experience. However, having a woman as a running mate could help McCain gain some female supporters, including former Clinton supporters. Thoughts?
Did not see that one coming. Nobody seems to know too much about her, since she's really only been governor for less than two years. So far, I know that she is avidly anti-choice, and belongs to Feminists for Life (UGH!) As governor, however, she vetoed a legislation that would have barred Alaska from granting benefits to partners of gay state employees. So, in essence, she doesn't seem to be a neo-con, but she holds plenty of conservative views. She also supports drilling for oil in her own state.
This could either be a good thing or a bad thing. I think some McCain supporters will be highly upset because no one saw this coming, and Sarah Palin lacks a lot of experience. However, having a woman as a running mate could help McCain gain some female supporters, including former Clinton supporters. Thoughts?
Posts
August 29, 2008 at 2:35 PM
I hope that if certain women are so desperate to vote for a woman, without looking at anything other than her gender, they'd vote McKinney/Clemente, which has TWO women on the ticket, rather than just one . . .
Of course, I hope that nobody is so desperate to vote for a woman that they'd ONLY look at gender . . .
August 29, 2008 at 3:24 PM
I think it's good that republicans are being more open-minded to have women in power... but it seems they're only okay with women in power when those women promote anti-woman policies. "It's okay that you're a woman in power, as long as you help make it so that other women can't get where you are!"
August 30, 2008 at 10:09 AM
I've been searching and searching for her qualifications for the VP. What qualifications does she have? A bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho? The fact that she was a beauty queen? Or is it that she was the mayor of a town of less than 10,000 and also sat on the city council before that? No, it's got to be the fact that she "hunts and eats buffalo burgers".
Sheesh!
Personally, if I'd have been a Hillary supporter, (and I almost voted for her in the primaries), I would be insulted by McCain's choice for VP. She's no Hillary Clinton, that's for sure, and she's certainly not the finger I'd want on the "red button" if McCain croaks in his first term, (which is very conceivable considering his age and his health).
There's nothing "open-minded" about this at all. It's a political ploy, at the expense of the safety & security of our nation, and I'm afraid that Sarah Palin is nothing but a pawn in McCain's misguided and irresponsible strategy.
August 30, 2008 at 1:11 PM
Lynette, I agree.. I think he picked her to win over former Hillary voters...and it's sort of insulting. No one's gonna say "Gee, she's a woman! Since I can't vote for Hillary I'll just vote for Palin!"
We're not that dumb.
August 31, 2008 at 5:33 PM
What upsets me the most about Palin is the fact that she is SO not White House material, and that is going to taint women politicians for years to come. I mean, she even said on national tv that she doesn't know what the VP even does. Is she incompetent? Yes. Is it because she is a woman? No. Will people make that distinction down the line, the next time a woman wants to run for high office? I don't think so... people will look at all future women politicians and assume that they will be cold, bitchy, stupid, incompetent, etc. just because the past women to have a viable shot at the White House were those qualities. They aren't breaking the glass ceiling, they are just making it harder for the next group of women to get through.
And, just as a side note, I think its pretty damn insulting that McCain actually thinks women will completely forget any and all issues that they care about and vote for him because he put a woman on his ticket. Maybe he should have thought about experience and issues in his running mate, not just sex appeal.
August 31, 2008 at 6:14 PM
It is an insulting choice, but it brought in about 7 million dollars in campaign contributions, scarily enough.
Also, in case you haven't seen them yet, some interesting articles in The Huffington Post and The Nation, plus a blog posting by Katharine Q. Seelye at NYTimes.com about Palin and the Women's Vote.