More on Palin

The Sarah Palin imbroglio continues to fascinate me.

I say this as a feminist.* I say this as a Hillary Clinton supporter. I say this as a woman who has supported equal rights.

But I cannot support Sarah Palin.

It would be too easy to jump on this manufactured bandwagon, this mythical creation by the Republicans who suddenly want us to believe that they are all about rights for women.

Please. I am not that naive. If Republicans were so fair-minded, we would have seen a woman VP candidate long before this. We would have seen much more leadership in the Republican party by qualified women.

Sarah Palin was a last-minute pick for VP. It's pretty clear, according to McCain insiders, that his first choices were Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge, both of whom were rejected because of their pro-choice views. It was decided somewhere along the way - apparently in the last days of the Democratic convention - that McCain needed someone to shore up the commitment of the conservative base of the GOP, someone who could excite the party, speak their language of the far right.

A woman he had met exactly twice - once to offer her the job.

All of which is fine, theoretically. Where McCain erred was in choosing an unproven, under-qualified woman. A woman who, McCain believed, would lure disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters over to his side.

Which offends me to the core. I resent the suggestion that women would vote for a woman based solely on gender. That women would vote against their principles just to vote for a woman. The very idea that Palin and Clinton are interchangeable is ludicrous - their stance on the issues could not be further apart.

And I - and other women I know - cannot support a candidate who does not support a woman's right to choose, does not support health care for all, who continues to espouse a belief in abstinence-only sex education (when it clearly does not work - read the latest research).

Palin is a token woman. She was chosen on the basis of her gender - and her purported far-right credentials - alone. And for people who argue that criticism of her is sexist, I beg to differ.

There are many, many women in the Republican party that could have been nominated. And had the woman on the ticket been Olympia Snowe, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Elizabeth Dole, or Condoleezza Rice, we would not be having this discussion. None of these women smacks of inexperience, as they all have proven track records of experience and of knowing their stuff.

Which you cannot say about Palin. Watch as she uncomfortably squirms her way through her interviews with Katie Couric of CBS News. Listen to the lack of substance in her answers - hell, listen to the way she does not answer the questions period. This woman is woefully unprepared. And the way the campaign is handling her exposure to the press is baffling - generally, she is off limits to reporters, who are not allowed to approach her, yet she is turned loose for lengthy interviews to a few selected high-profile news outlets, interviews she is clearly unprepared for.

She lacks a clear understanding of economics, of foreign affairs. She simply does not grasp the complicated issues that are of the utmost importance at this time.

You can't say that about McCain, Obama, or Biden - each of them sits for the press, answers questions, and takes their dues for the answers they give. If Palin truly is qualified for this job, then why is she deemed not ready to deal with reporters? Is the media tougher to deal with than, say, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

What sort of twisted logic is running this campaign? Or, dare I say, are the rules different for a woman running for this office?

It's strange. And it's sad. I do want to see a woman run this country. But I want it to be the right woman. Palin is not right for this job. McCain is 71, and he has had several bouts with melanoma. I can't imagine that his five years in a POW camp are going to lengthen his life expectancy.

And I'm troubled by the process he used to choose Palin - the lack of vetting, the haphazardness of his decision making.

Which says nothing about Palin herself. But I think in her canned speech, her inconsistencies, her lack of speaking to the press, she has spoken volumes. The country deserves better.

But you be the judge. I leave you with Palin answering questions from Katie Couric. Palin was on again last night, with McCain, trying to explain why her comments contradict his. I didn't get a very satisfactory response. In this clip, listen for her answer to the Wall Street bailout question. And tell me honestly if you think this woman is ready to lead the country.

I think you and I both know the answer. But you listen for yourself.



*Being a feminist is not, repeat NOT, a dirty word. It's simply "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes." Who isn't a feminist?