Here’s the best part about the Sarah Palin VP pick, and one fundamental difference between the Republicans and the Democrats: In presenting Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential pick, John McCain never referred to her as being a woman.
Oh, he used the pronoun “she.” But in no way he reference her gender as in any way giving her some sort of special right to our votes. Compare this with many Obama backers who have made the case that we do not elect Obama we are by definition a racist country, and the world will rightly paint us as such.
Is there any possibility the Democrats would have put a woman on the ticket without presenting her as “I am woman, hear me roar?” Not a chance.
As a woman, I couldn’t care less whether the President of the United States, or the folks serving in Washington are men or women. I only care about whether they are smart, qualified, and principled, and will do the right things whatever one’s gender. If you are a person of integrity willing to cut taxes and limit government, protect guns and the unborn, I really don’t care what your sex is.
(For her part, Sarah Palin did only briefly reference the significance of being a woman by saluting Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro, but that was clearly aimed at bringing over the Hillary Clinton voters.)
I’ve long predicted that the first woman president wouldn’t be a woman who ran as a woman, but a woman who ran for President and happened to be a woman.
But here’s the funny thing: did you notice the press coverage so far on Sarah Palin? Even on the mainstream networks, there was very little specific comment on her gender either. I’d like to think that’s because the networks are not a bunch of gender warriors.
But that would be wrong. The same networks that salivated over the prospect of “Hillary Clinton First Woman President” suddenly found little to say on the gender issue when it came to an attractive, pro-life Republican woman, one without an anti-male chip on her shoulder. So maybe she’s not a. . . real woman?
And there’s the rub. In the feminist/liberal world view, a “real woman” is pro-choice, pro-big spending and big government, has a good size chip on her shoulder about how badly she’s been treated by the fellas and oh yeah, she can’t be particularly attractive or feminine looking.
And there you have it. Get ready to hear more hints along these lines: well she’s a gal, but not really a “woman.”
Meanwhile, for those of us women who are real, but not “real women,” we have everything to be excited about. Sarah Palin is a smart, hard nosed, right thinking, feminine woman who will never dare hide behind her own skirts.
Will this bring over some disaffected “Hillary” voters? Here’s one place the McCain campaign may be naïve, because the answer is almost certainly not. (Except for those who really want Obama to lose anyway so that their gal can be back up there in 4 years.) The more the disaffected Hillary voters hear about Sarah Palin, the more they will likely declare her not “really” a woman.
But as far as energizing the base, and the real women out there who were looking to get excited about McCain – he’s hit a home run.
**
Betsy Hart is a regular columnist for the Chicago Daily Observer
Haddaenough says:
When a disreputable politician like Rahm Emanuel, who has lined his pockets with millions due to his political connections, criticizes the selection of Sarah Palin, you begin to feel that John McCain made the right choice.
Palin trumps Obama and Biden. She has accomplished more than Obama for certain.
Dan says:
Your premise is flawed and desperate. I'm not a fan of Obama, but you're flimsy ad hominem attacks on the Democratic ideology as some sort of bizarre justification for choosing Palin is empty and transparent. If anything, McCain has shown us that he's more interested in making a splash and stealing the so-called limelight from Obama than choosing his second-hand man (or woman) - while simultaneously bashing Obama for his celebrity. Meanwhile, while also firing verbal missiles attacking Obama as ill-prepared, he choosed a second in command that has less experience and exposure to the very issues he claims to have a leg up on in his camp. I'm less concerned about the health issue, but one could strongly argue that Obama is much more prepared than Palin to run this country.
Maverick? Not quite. Hypocrite? Most definitely.
More Baked Alaska, Barry? says:
Precisely, how many executive positions has Obama held? Has he met a payroll or balanced a budget?
Nope.
iAMrj says:
Dan, one of our Detroit Free Press writers also called John McCain a hypocrite in light of his VP pick. But anyone who believes that American politics is much ado about sincerity is also working with a premise that's "flawed and desperate." Duped and doped by the real power brokers and decision makers, the cult of the personality is running wild and, for the most part, only pausing to vote for what Chomsky long ago exposed as "necessary illusions."
richard jones (rj)
http://www.iAMrj.com
Pat Hickey says:
Per an earlier comment, this from Hugh Hewitt -
'Obama's only executive experience ever was working for Bill Ayers.'
The selection of Sarah Palin is a game changing stroke of genius.
Obama will be lucky to carry Illinois.
iAMrj says:
Hey there, "More Baked Alaska, Barry?" :-)
Here's a great line from another blog I read today: "After spending the entire campaign talking about how experience isn't everything, Barack Obama, who's never held a full-time job for four years, cannot start hitting (Sarah Palin) on inexperience."
Besides, which is worst: Inexperience at the wheel from Day One or inexperience sitting in the passenger seat?
Both campaigns need to lay off what Dan would otherwise describe as "flimsy ad hominem attacks." ;-)
richard jones (rj)
http://www.iAMrj.com
Amalarian says:
McCain has an ex-beauty queen for a wife and now he has one for a running mate. With this choice he has put Biden in a box because, just as it is iffy to criticize Obama because he is half black, it is also iffy to get tough with a woman. He has, he thinks, solved the problem of getting the Hillary fans to vote for him. Being mayor of a town with a population of around 9,000 and a state with one of 670,000 no more qualifies her to be vice president than being a POW qualifies him. At least Obama is a brilliant politician.
Dan says:
iAMrj, I agree. Although I'm not sure anyone can have enough or the right type of experience for the presidency (with the possible exception of George HW Bush), I'm disappointed that these two candidates are the best we have to offer.
On another note, I'm really surprised that the McCain campaign has not probed Obama's ties to the Chicago "Machine". Any city that's produced the likes of woeful leaders Daley, Stroger, and Blagojevich, all of whom Obama endorsed, should be a distinct disadvantage. McCain has utterly failed to pounce.
Dirk says:
Very funny and witty article, Betsy. Thank goodness we still have some sensible journalism to read.
Fernando Lavin says:
Betsy, thank you or being REAL, and seeing the world as a... person.
I am here because I read first "Government doesn't need to bail out working moms", and I thought you were different from the awful "liberal female kind".
When you write that if the government becomes bigger, the family becomes less important, you won me to your side.
The NY Times has Maureen Dowd, CBC Canada has Heather Mallick, (both loose "colons" of liberalism mental disorder) but we have you.
Keep up the good work!
FLavin
iAMrj says:
Betsy,
Thank you for this very thought-provoking article. As a pro-feminist male -- or, is “menminist” now the term? -- with three amazing daughters, I’m as delighted to see Governor Sarah Palin in the running alongside John McCain as I was to see Senator Hillary Clinton’s historic performance in the Democratic primary. However, I still haven’t decided which one of the false alternatives...er, parties I'm going to cast my vote for in November. From the way Senator Barack Obama speaks behind closed AIPACish doors, it seems that he’s repositioning himself more to the right than I care to contemplate. So, with Palin now in the picture, perhaps I’ll just my vote for a real conservative, placate my pro-feminist sensibilities in the process, and call it a day. That’s right, you can probably now count me among “the real women out there who were looking to get exciting about McCain” and watched him hit a home run with the announcement of his VP pick today! ;-)
richard jones (rj)
<a href=”http://www.iAMrj.com”>www.iAMrj.com</a>