As a woman, I’m offended.
As an individual with at least one-degree of common sense, I’m offended.
To select a female vice president solely to win the votes of women, as Republican presidential candidate John McCain did last week, is highly offensive and we all should have an issue with that — regardless of gender.
For those who may think I have a problem with a woman being vice president or president of the United States for that matter, you are totally inaccurate. As a matter of fact, early in the Democratic primary, I seriously considered supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Although my position eventually changed, I was still open to the possibility of a woman serving as head of this country — so I have no problem with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a vice presidential candidate because she’s a woman. Rather, I have a problem with her selection because I strongly believe the only reason McCain chose her was to win the votes of women throughout the country. In addition, Palin is extremely inexperienced and lacks the political savvy and even persona of what I deem appropriate to be an effective president.
McCain couldn’t let this presidential race be historic solely because Sen. Barack Obama is the first African-American to ever make it this far in a presidential election. Instead, McCain had to try to one-up Obama by selecting Palin, despite her obvious lack of experience.
McCain and the Republicans are playing politics in one of the most transparent and desperate manners I’ve seen in a long time. Their game plan? Select a young “hockey mom” with five children to appeal to the general population — something McCain, his affluent wife and their seven homes can’t do.
However, there were a few things that McCain’s camp didn’t factor into the equation when considering Palin:
She’s not Hillary Clinton, nor will she ever be. Palin’s inexperience and unpolished demeanor makes her Sarah Palin, not Hillary Clinton. Clinton supporters are not so enthralled with having a female president or vice president that they’ll settle for a much more diluted version.
Palin’s anti-abortion stance. Whether a woman actually has a baby or not is not the issue, what is however, is that woman’s right to choose. Since Palin fiercely opposes abortion, which is something most U.S. women support, many Clinton supporters would be deterred from voting Republican simply because of that fact.
The ethics investigation. Palin is currently under investigation for terminating a high-ranking police official who refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law. So, when Palin wants to settle a family dispute, I guess she abuses her power by eliminating the problem and firing anyone who gets in her way or has a modicum of integrity…sounds eerily similar to President Bush and his war agenda.
Palin’s 17-year-old unmarried pregnant daughter. While it’s not fair to judge Palin’s daughter for her actions, people have begun to look at Palin herself and the fact that such a staunch anti-abortion woman with a strict abstinence education policy didn’t seem to get the message through to her own children. Since the McCain camp claims they knew of Bristol’s pregnancy from the beginning, it only solidifies their attempt to choose Palin to relate to everyday people. Republicans need to understand that the general population knows how ultra conservative the GOP generally is. We also know that if the daughter of a Democratic presidential or vice presidential candidate were pregnant, Republicans would be all over the media taunting the importance of proper morals and ethics.
McCain’s selection of Palin is such a diversion from the real problems that this country is faced with. What we as voters have to always remember and stay focused on is that McCain’s rush decision to select Palin is clear evidence of what’s to come if Republicans are elected into office. We don’t need any more quick, authoritarian decisions made by McCain and Palin, whose actions are so similar to Bush’s it’s scary. What this country needs is clear, well-thought out choices that are for the good of all people. This country needs change in the White House. This country needs Barack Obama and Joe Biden as our leaders.
