Because I’m a feminist, and because I have a vagina, and because my father still thinks I’m a Republican, I cannot count the number of times I’ve been asked this question in the past few days.
Let me let you in on a little secret. I’m not a republican. I’m not a democrat. I’m not even that interested in politics. I knew basically nothing about the woman before about 1 hour ago. I knew she was pretty. I knew she was a female. I knew she was picked as the Republican VP candidate. That was it. Thus I had to tell all these people the honest truth, “I cannot give an educated opinion.”
As a general rule, I don’t get into politics. Not because I don’t care about what happens to my country, but because under this system of government we’re always picking the lesser of two evils. I, like many other Americans, have to decide what three or four major issues I want to vote in accordance to. I have to vote according to the causes we care about and the candidate who will “promise” to deliver. And normally, it’s a mixture of both republic and democratic stances on those causes that I identify with. For instance, I’m passionately Pro-Choice, definitely Anti-Gun Control, detest the No Child Left Behind disaster, and concerned with the status of our environment. Now, which less-than-desirable candidate do I pick?
See…it’s not cut and dry. And normally, VP isn’t that HUGE of a deal. They take over if the President croaks (so I guess, for McLame, it is a big deal who his VP will be) but really, it’s not usually of extreme importance*. Strangely, I’ve been asked more about my thoughts on Palin that I was asked about my thoughts on Hilary when she was in the race. Maybe it was assumed that I was a Clinton supporter because I’m female and not all GO-OBAMA-I-LOVE-YOU?
So, after doing a little bit of research on Palin and her anti-feminist stance on certain issues, she’s not doing anything to lure me to the right.
As Ann Friedman states in an article on The American Prospect
“Palin is not a woman who has a record of representing women’s interests. She is beloved by extremely right-wing conservatives for her anti-choice record (fittingly, she’s a member of the faux-feminist anti-choice group Feminists for Life). Palin supports federal anti-gay marriage legislation. She believes schools should teach creationism. Alaska is currently considering spending more on abstinence-only sex education. And when it comes to a slew of other issues of importance to women, such as equal pay, she’s not on the record.”
Also, interesting news release on New York Times.com about Palin’s 17 year old daughter’s “choice” to continue her pregnancy and keep the child. Given Palin’s pro-life stance, I’m betting the only “choice” her daughter was given was 1) Off to the nunnery and a well-placed adoption or 2) Marry the baby-daddy and keep the kid. How’s that abstinence only education working out for you?
What do I think of Palin? I think she was chosen to get the “woman vote”, without thinking about what constitutes the “woman vote.” I feel like the Republican Party feels that women are too stupid to put forth any effort at all (even the minimal effort I put forward in writing this) to research her stance. I think they believe women will vote for McLame because they see an X-chromosome beside him on the ticket.
What do I think about Palin?
I think a McCain/Palin ticket is bad for women.
*Just in case some uberpolitical reader decides to call me out on how little I know about our system of government….I know I’m undereducated in this area. I agree with you. I wrote poems through government, civics, and most of history in school. I’m not a pundit, I’m a blogger. But hey, if Pat Robertson gets to spew nonsense on the public, so do I.
So, what do you think about Palin? September 3, 2008
Because I’m a feminist, and because I have a vagina, and because my father still thinks I’m a Republican, I cannot count the number of times I’ve been asked this question in the past few days.
Let me let you in on a little secret. I’m not a republican. I’m not a democrat. I’m not even that interested in politics. I knew basically nothing about the woman before about 1 hour ago. I knew she was pretty. I knew she was a female. I knew she was picked as the Republican VP candidate. That was it. Thus I had to tell all these people the honest truth, “I cannot give an educated opinion.”
As a general rule, I don’t get into politics. Not because I don’t care about what happens to my country, but because under this system of government we’re always picking the lesser of two evils. I, like many other Americans, have to decide what three or four major issues I want to vote in accordance to. I have to vote according to the causes we care about and the candidate who will “promise” to deliver. And normally, it’s a mixture of both republic and democratic stances on those causes that I identify with. For instance, I’m passionately Pro-Choice, definitely Anti-Gun Control, detest the No Child Left Behind disaster, and concerned with the status of our environment. Now, which less-than-desirable candidate do I pick?
See…it’s not cut and dry. And normally, VP isn’t that HUGE of a deal. They take over if the President croaks (so I guess, for McLame, it is a big deal who his VP will be) but really, it’s not usually of extreme importance*. Strangely, I’ve been asked more about my thoughts on Palin that I was asked about my thoughts on Hilary when she was in the race. Maybe it was assumed that I was a Clinton supporter because I’m female and not all GO-OBAMA-I-LOVE-YOU?
So, after doing a little bit of research on Palin and her anti-feminist stance on certain issues, she’s not doing anything to lure me to the right.
As Ann Friedman states in an article on The American Prospect
Also, interesting news release on New York Times.com about Palin’s 17 year old daughter’s “choice” to continue her pregnancy and keep the child. Given Palin’s pro-life stance, I’m betting the only “choice” her daughter was given was 1) Off to the nunnery and a well-placed adoption or 2) Marry the baby-daddy and keep the kid. How’s that abstinence only education working out for you?
What do I think of Palin? I think she was chosen to get the “woman vote”, without thinking about what constitutes the “woman vote.” I feel like the Republican Party feels that women are too stupid to put forth any effort at all (even the minimal effort I put forward in writing this) to research her stance. I think they believe women will vote for McLame because they see an X-chromosome beside him on the ticket.
What do I think about Palin?
I think a McCain/Palin ticket is bad for women.
*Just in case some uberpolitical reader decides to call me out on how little I know about our system of government….I know I’m undereducated in this area. I agree with you. I wrote poems through government, civics, and most of history in school. I’m not a pundit, I’m a blogger. But hey, if Pat Robertson gets to spew nonsense on the public, so do I.