sarah palin - welcome to the liberal blogosphere

Unpopular political opinion time:

You know, after what happened to Hillary Clinton during primaries, I kind of guessed what would happen when Sarah Palin was put up for the Republican VP candidate. I am very unsurprised to note the first things that occurred were mentions of the following things that apparently, are reasons she cannot possibly be a good president and/or comments on her:

1.) A beauty queen.

2.) References to her vagina.

3.) Hockey mom*. (not a quote from someone, but a quote of a quote made elsewhere)

4.) Number of children.

The really weird part? These were all from my flist.

I think this is great. Why discuss her anti-abortion, anti-gay-marriage, iffy environmental stance, or her ideology? Why discuss her own maverick status in Alaska when she opened ethics investigations? Why on earth would we be vaguely interested in the decisions she's made as Alaskan governor or anything she's done?

Yes, she's unknown. And Biden is not a household name. Shocker. Yes, she doesn't have a lot of experience. I swear I've heard this argument before. Yes, she could end up being the first female vice president, because the democrats chose another white male for the VP slot despite numerous very qualified female candidates, among which was Hillary Clinton. We can't complain about that. We had our chance and we missed it.

Yes, she's a conservative. A conservative with views and an ideology that is radically against what most of us believe. That is what we should be looking at, studying, what we should be discussing.

The blogosphere is a cesspool already with this, and the primaries were, for me, so offensive I couldn't talk about it and honestly, I still can't. I'm a democrat, and my party chose the candidates that will act, with any kind of luck, closest to the beliefs I hold dear. But I'm also a woman, and this is--I have no idea. Something is wrong with this, when we, who are many of us liberal women, choose this path twice against opponents.

I'm kind of expecting an unfriending for this one.

*clarification - this was not said by an ljer or used in a derogatory way by an ljer. it was quoted by an ljer about what the candidate said about herself and then I saw it elsewhere on the net used in a derogatory way. My apologies on not being clear.

Comments

[cofax7]

Not from me.

I fully expect the horror of the Democratic primary season to continue--that is, the thinly-veiled misogyny will continue, except now it will be extended to the left-wing side of the blogosphere (those that weren't already on that train). It makes me so very tired.

I think McCain's made a very strategic choice, except for the fact that he passed over multiple experienced female Republicans in order to choose Palin, and I'd love to know why. What makes Palin better than Hutchinson, or Janet Napolitano (she's Republican, isn't she?)?

[seperis.livejournal.com]

You know, that part throws me too. Hutchinson isn't actually a *bad* choice, speaking as a liberal--I do not love her nor would I vote for her, but I wouldn't fear waking up in A Handmaid's Tale with her either. However, and this is just the lightest gloss of reading so far, I think her status as a maverick attracted him--while conservative, she's not controlled by the party or its ideology, if what I read is anything to go by. So it should be interesting.

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

I am going to be very interested in the VP debates and hearing more about her politics and her plans. She does not have a clear vision of her role as VP so M's team should focus on (a) her stance on key issues and (b) her plans for the position. In other words, shift into high gear to get her repositioned as a candidate with substance.

The interview where she asked "what does a VP do?"" really hurt her - and for good reason. It made her sound 'not ready for wider responsibility on the national level. But I suspect people will soon shift away from soundbites and more towards evaluating her as a candidate.

and thankfully no one on my reading list has pulled the 'vagina or beauty queen' card.

[winterlive.livejournal.com]

i think it's b/c she's young and because she's got a rep for being an ethical watchdog on her own party. obama's painting the republicans as tired old same-old-same-old, and nothing says the polar opposite of that like palin.

except of course how she is 100% with them on almost every single issue.

[serrana.livejournal.com]

Or, if you want a "maverick," Olympia Snowe?

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Maybe her lack of ties to the party? I've been thinking about how McCain, while the nominee, is conservative but not very GOP, and it's possible he wanted someone with that same mindset, and who owes nothing to the party itself. If that was what he was going for, it actually is a pretty good choice on his part.

[serrana.livejournal.com]

Well, if he's trying to send a coded message about his independence...it's hard to know how to weigh that against his voting record in the Senate in these last few years, which I've found really disappointing.

I mean, I used to like the guy. Now I don't know what he's thinking.

And yes, if I see one more writer suggesting that Palin took on the challenges of raising a kid with Down's Syndrome because she thought it would help her politically...I will start throwing things. I have heard some foul things said about women and their reproductive choices in my time, but however much I disagree with her politics (and I do!) I think that's an awful thing to say about a mother and her baby.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*flinches hard* This is going to be a fun election. I can already tell.

[cofax7]

People SAID THAT?

Holy god, people SUCK.

[serrana.livejournal.com]

People suck a lot.

The kid is the same age as my youngest; I would hope that, had I faced the same choice, I'd have been strong enough to make the decision she did.

Mind you, she's wrong like a wrong thing about environmental issues, and I don't think she's got anything like enough experience to lead the nation.

[destina.livejournal.com]

I think it's actually pretty simple: without a lot of experience, you don't have a lot of baggage. McCain is counting on her not having political skeletons in the closet or a well-known record and years of possibly contradictory positions that can derail the race. The less there is to talk about re Palin, the better; she was picked to appeal to the common woman of middle America (if there is such a thing), to be a self-reflection of McCain's policies, and to be as invisible as possible for the next 60 days.

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

I've seen it suggested a couple places that it was so a scandal could occur, she has to gracefully step down, and he gets to choose someone else, yet keep the brownie points from picking her in the first place. Gods, I hope that's not the Master Plan - that might actually give her my sympathy for being used as such an obvious pawn.

[minaloush.livejournal.com]

Napolitano of AZ? Pretty sure she's a democrat. She was tossed around as a possible vp choice for dems, but she's also a dyke, iirc, and we;re still a bafflingly homophobic society.

[hederahelix.livejournal.com]

I was pretty sure that Napolitano of AZ is a Democrat. If Obama had picked one of the women on his list of VP candidates I was rooting for her since as governor she was term limited out, and so her getting the nod for VP wouldn't have resulted in AZ having to try to find a Dem who could win a gubernatorial election. With term limits, they were already going to have that struggle, unlike Seblius of Kansas (I don't know the abbreviation for Kansas. Is it KS?), who if given the nod would put the Dems in the position of trying to find another Dem who could win the governor's slot in a state in which a Dem governor is not in any way a given.

[zoniduck.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who voted for her both times, I can confirm that Janet Napolitano is definitely a Democrat. :-)

And while it's true that she can't run again in 2010, the problem I would have with her resigning early is that Arizona has no lieutenant governor, and our rules of succession say that the Secretary of State is next in line. Our current Secretary of State is a Republican, and I'd just as soon not live the next two years with a Republican majority in the state legislature, and a Republican Governor.

[wyomingnot.livejournal.com]

What makes Palin better than Hutchinson, or Janet Napolitano (she's Republican, isn't she?)?

Maybe those others were asked first... and they said no.

*shrug*

[zoniduck.livejournal.com]

Janet Napolitano is most assuredly not a Republican. There is some chance that she might be tapped for a cabinet position if Obama wins, but I'm not in favor of this. Arizona has no lieutenant Governor, so if Napolitano resigns, the Secretary of State becomes Governor, and our current one is a Republican. Frankly, it's a miracle that we've managed to get Napolitano elected twice in this state. I'd hate to hand over the last 2 years of her term to the Republicans, and I hope she feels the same.