Saturday, August 30, 2008

Things I don't like about Palin's selection

1. It makes it obvious that a whole lot of people on the Republican side think that the entire point of having Hillary as a candidate was that she was female and that Clinton supporters will vote for any old set of ovaries. Clinton's degree from Yale law? Unnecessary. A woman with a journalism B.A. from University of Idaho is close enough.

2. A really old presidential candidate* who has been repeatedly treated for cancer just picked the mayor of a town of 9000 to be his weak heartbeat away from the presidency. I think that kinda nips the experience argument in the bud. This may seem like a good thing, but keep in mind that the most experienced presidential candidate of the 20th century was Al Gore. The American people generally don't like the experience argument and don't listen to it. So I liked that McCain was making it over and over.

3. It was bad enough when the people making the sexist jokes were mostly people I DISAGREED with politically. The blow-up doll/Barbie doll/VPILF jokes have already started from my own friends and I know it's only going to get worse.

Do you really need a list of reasons to criticize this woman? If so, let's go over them again: Against Gay Marriage, pro-big business, pro-gun, anti-choice, anti-science... In a sense, she's really another Dick Cheney in that she's shoring up the conservative base. See? Lots of good insult material right there.

That she's pretty REALLY DOESN'T NEED TO COME INTO THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE AT ALL.

If you are commenting at all on her looks, you are making the choice to do so and probably at the expense of more substantive criticism. Please make a different choice.

4. The whole Harriet Miers kerfuffle was annoying enough the first time.

5. I really don't want to listen to the whole "Can a woman with five kids have time to lead?" discussion.

6. Randi Rhodes has just been given a whole new woman in power to use the C-word about.

7. I really, really hate the "I'm governor of a state sort of near other countries, so I have foreign policy experience" argument. Hated it when George W. Bush made it. Hated it when Howard Dean made it. Hate it now.

My route to school takes me literally through the Pentagon's parking lot. Doesn't make me a fucking general, m'kay?

8. It indicates that McCain really and truly has sold out on the pork-spending issue. Because Palin did support the bridge project. (OK, arguably it was her job to do so, but she's supposed to be this maverick.)

9. And this is a minor one if you're not me, I really, really hate Ted Stevens and Don Young. They have been my two least favorite politicians FOREVER and I think high Republican voter turnout in Alaska has been assured on election day now.

10. OK, and one thing I like. Mitt Romney has apparently been working his ass off for McCain for months and just got overlooked for someone who has pretty much done nothing for McCain and whose state looked like it might go to a Democrat for the first time since the Johnson administration. He has to be pissed off.

And anything that pisses off Mitt Romney is a good thing.

CC

* The man is 23 years older THAN ALASKA.

10 comments:

Bill Baar said...

Palin's experience was crushing the corrupt Republican Machine in Alaska.

Obama's experience was endorsing the corrupt Democrat Machine in Illinois.

Their experience says a lot.

lacochran said...

Well put. I feel better about Obama's chances every day.

Lizard Eater said...

I thought Dee Dee Myers made a good point: "Worse, when Sarah Palin falls short--and I hope I'm wrong but I think in important ways, such as her debate with Joe Biden, she will--some people will conclude that women can't cut it. That's unfair to Sarah Palin--and it's certainly unfair to the rest of us."

Bill Baar said...

...and if she clobbers biden?

...and if Obama falls flat on his face? (Rerun Saddleback which was soft......)

Anonymous said...

The most recent Daily Show had "female correspondent" Samantha Bee explain why she's voting McCain. Rather than summarize, I'll let you watch it.

Makes complete sense to me!

Anonymous said...

My first thought was that she was a pretty harmless pick. A woman who gives her kids hippie names and likes to shoot guns. I was very puzzled that her only higher education is a BA in Journalism from the University of Idaho (what, not even University of Oregon?).

But the DH's eyes got really round (not easy for him) when I offhandedly commented, "Well, she seems like an interesting person, at least. Not sure she's qualified to be VP or become Pres." His reaction was, "Are you kidding!?!"

So I did some more reading on her ... I had no idea she was so popular among the religious right wingers. And also, I cannot vote for anyone who is a Creationist. My religion doesn't allow it. There are other things wrong, as you've so nicely outlined, but now I see her as kind of a wolf in sheep's clothing. Kind of like W.

PG said...

Palin's experience was crushing the corrupt Republican Machine in Alaska.

If she did such a good job of crushing that machine, why did Ted Stevens win the Republican primary after getting indicted? And possibly ditto Don Young, who is counting votes. That seems like a pretty resilient machine. Palin's crushing appears primarily to amount to having defeated Murkowski in 2006 -- a guy she tried to run with as lieutenant governor in 2002.

And thankfully, machine politics are pretty irrelevant for the President of the United States of America. At that point, you ARE the mofoing machine.

Comrade Kevin said...

I've always been uncomfortable when people reduce any woman to little more than a cultural stereotype. Like you, I've never found it particularly engaging or amusing. I feel the same way about that kind of characterization as I do about humor about bodily functions---base and uncouth.

But many don't think the same way I do, apparently.

PG said...

Oh, and Alaska does have significant ties to Russia. Palin just doesn't appear to have put a lot into that relationship. For example, the planned Bering Strait tunnel/ pipeline between Siberia and Alaska has an Alaska governor heavily involved -- but it's former governor Walter Joseph Hickel, not Palin.

Robin Edgar said...

"That she's pretty REALLY DOESN'T NEED TO COME INTO THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE AT ALL."

What was it that Joe Biden said about Barack Obama a while back CC? ;-)

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/01/biden_on_obama_.html