Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger. Read on...
John McCain chose party over country by selecting Palin, a move that eerily reflects George Bush's reckless style of governing. The McCain camp may think they can fool women voters, but Steinem does a fantastic job of shredding the idea that Hillary Clinton supporters would automatically be wooed into voting for a woman who is her polar opposite and unfit to serve. Quite simply put, Palin isn't qualified to carry HRC's briefcase, let alone be considered her political equal.
Lets break this down in the most basic of terms -- Sarah Palin is a Bush Republican -- say it loud and say it often. I grind my teeth every time I hear someone in the corporate media tout Palin as a candidate of change. A change of gender does not equal a change in policy or direction for America. John McCain may consider Palin to be his "political soul mate," but unfortunately for him, her heart belongs to George W. Bush.
