UPDATE: Looks like yes, Palin is the VP pick. Put your thoughts in the comments, if you care to - I declare Open Thread.
UPDATE II: From Melissa McEwan, who is already starting to hear sexist language used against Palin:
For the record, there is plenty about which to criticize Palin that has absolutely fuck-all to do with her sex. She's anti-choice, against marriage equality, pro-death penalty, pro-guns, and loves Big Business. (In other words, she's a Republican.) There's no goddamned reason to criticize her for anything but her policies.UPDATE III: From Ann of Feministing:
...I will defend Sarah Palin against misogynist smears not because I like or support her, but because that's how feminism works.
Againcourt has already mentioned that her Mom is thrilled by McCain's pick, though - is anyone else seeing any impact from this decision? I mean, other than our collective inability to talk about anything else?First up, she's super anti-choice. The forced-pregnancy crowd is thrilled today!... She's against marriage equality and supports a federal gay-marriage ban, but has made sure to note that she "has gay friends." Though she has signed on to same-sex partner benefits. She believes schools should teach creationism. She's also pretty terrible on environmental issues, and is a huge advocate of drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Plus, she's embroiled in a scandal:
But Palin's seemingly bright future was clouded in late July when the state legislature voted to hire an independent investigator to find out whether she tried to have a state official fire her ex-brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper.As Vanessa blogged last month, Bill Kristol was claiming McCain would pick Palin -- and that would prove that Republicans are "much more open to strong women." Frankly, that's bullshit. Republicans are more open to a certain type of woman -- one who is strongly against things like equal pay, universal health care, and reproductive freedom. In other words, the party is pro-woman-candidates, as long as they enact anti-woman policies.
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BBC is already saying that as well. How news travels so fast is stunning sometimes.
Anyway, who among our little blogging community knows about her because I assure you I have never even heard of her. I'd love to get some opinions here along with whatever research I now have to do on my own about her.
She's a woman, but I don't think she's a good pick for women. It looks like she's very conservative and she's not pro-choice.
It looks like she's for drilling for oil in the Alaska Wildlife Preserve, is anti-choice, and a member of the NRA.
Personal Trivia: She used to work as a TV sports caster right out of college, has 5 kids, is married to "an Eskimo fisherman" (says Slate), and has a young son with Down's Syndrome.
Yes, my mom called me to tell me this news. I was all panicked because she asked if I'd 'heard the news'..and I'm thinking natural disaster or something!
I think she is excited by this news, and that is thinking this will sway the women. She pointed out that she also used to play hockey. Somehow this was meant to sway me I think.. :-/ Sigh.
Well, I did just have a coworker come up to my aisle and give a "woohoo" shout out to McCain's brilliant choice. Now, to be fair, he and I did go on to have an intelligent political discussion.
One of his comments was that he feels having a woman will now officially pull in all the Hillary supporters. Mind you, he did not make a distinction about *this* woman. I hope to high heaven that he is wrong. I just cannot believe that all the disgruntled Hillary supporters will jump ship and vote for McCain simply because there is now a woman on the ticket. Because near as I can tell she really isn't all that good for women.
Of course, I was/am dismayed at how many women were apparently willing to either vote for McCain (even before this VP choice) rather than Obama or even worse how many women were willing to not vote at all.
I think that the number of women considering not supporting Obama due to some resentment about Sen. Clinton has been grossly over-estimated by a gossip-hungry media. Journalist Joshua Green agrees with me, he told Terry Gross last night on Fresh Air that this has been a media-pushed, if not quite media-invented story.
Did your coworker like Palin personally, or is he just attracted to what he sees as a savvy strategy to grab some 'lady votes'?
He admitted to not knowing much about her at all. So he and I are on equal footing there. I definitely think he was just impressed with the strategy of it all.
I think that the number of women considering not supporting Obama due to some resentment about Sen. Clinton has been grossly over-estimated by a gossip-hungry media.
While I agree this is true, the fact is that a ton of them are still out there! Perhaps it's a different experience here in NY, but I keep meeting more and more men and women who are considering supporting McCain now that Hillary's out of it.
As for Palin... *sigh* I suppose that I do see the "silver lining," however small it is, in that the top two positions in this country will either be occupied by a black man or a woman. But overall, I'm disappointed. I don't know much about her, but what I keep reading is that she's even more conservative than he is. Remember the line in Obama's speech last night about taking a 10% chance on on change? That has just plummeted to at most 5% now.
Seems like a pretty cynical move from the McCain campaign. I have to hope that disgruntled Hillary voters care more about what she stands for than just about the fact that she's a woman.
We're writing about this over at the CA NOW blog too: http://www.canow.org/canoworg/2008/08/mccains-vp-choi.html
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Even more Hillary supporters will go for McCain now. Obama is no longer a near certainty. Heaven forbid something happens to McCain, but I believe Palin would rise to the occasion. She has the right attitude. Everyone knows Obama is NOT ready for POTUS, Palin is only for the VP. Look at Dan Quayle.
YEY SARAH PALIN! YEY John McCain! Great pick! The 1st woman for the GOP VP? SCORE!
She's conservative! SCORE! She's a Governor! SCORE! She's pro-drilling! She's a hunter! SCORE! She played hockey in school! SCORE! She's pro-life! And she respects women! SCORE! She fights corruption! SCORE! She's high-energy! SCORE! She's tough! SCORE! She's got 5 kids! SCORE! Her son is going to Iraq in the Armed Forces! SCORE! She's married to a Blue-collar professional! SCORE! She's smart! SCORE! She's young! SCORE!
And she's a Hotty to boot! SCORE! The Left is going to go nuts! SCORE!
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
never elect a woman
who's a conservative
she's just a gender traitor
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
just HOPE to pay more taxes
DREAM about high fuel prices
CHANGE PROGRESS to move backwards
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All real freedom starts with freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech, there can be no real freedom.
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Philosophy of Liberty Cartoon
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Help Halt Terrorism Today!
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USpace
:)
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Dahlia Litwick I think nailed it when she said: "Absolutely agree that this was an inspired, brave and buzz-y choice for veep. Everything the Joe Biden's pick was not. I think Team McCain has gamed this age we live in better than the Obama camp, for which they deserve serious credit. Now this is gonna be an election."
Regardless of whether Palin is going to bring in the "Pissed Off At Obama" Democrats what she will do is energize Republican women (anyone remember those?). There's been so much talk about how McCain isn't inspiring his base that no one has yet mentioned that this will inspire them.
As a side note, I just had one of the worst arguments with a female friend who voted for Hillary (while I voted for Obama) about Palin. Not because neither one of us want McCain or Palin to win, but when we started talking about her "experience" it brought up all the old arguments about Hillary-versus-Obama in that arena.
Just based on comments here, it looks to me like this was more of a media-savvy choice than a politically-savvy choice. People who were already going to vote for McCain are still going to vote for McCain - they're giddy, though, because they think that they'll garner a bigger 'lady vote.' Obama supporters are still excited about Obama, and Palin strikes them as a decisive step to the right - eating away at the Maverick reputation. Palin was supposed to appeal to Christian Conservatives and women at the same time, but I'm not sure she actually wins any new votes for Republicans. Those who supported Clinton were for women's rights, as Clinton was. Those who are to the right of McCain seem to be excited to the point of blathering idiocy in their excitement about this choice, but its a double edged sword - McCain might loose some moderate cred with this.
The real winners in this are the networks, who will have easy stories through November now - they can continue to avoid covering any of the real issues and instead continue 'would you vote for a lady - how about an African American'? style interviews with random people. So, high viewership and no research or analysis required.
Republicans are more open to a certain type of woman -- one who is strongly against things like equal pay, universal health care, and reproductive freedom. In other words, the party is pro-woman-candidates, as long as they enact anti-woman policies.
That is a point that should not be lost on everyone. Palin was picked not because she is a woman but because she is a woman that has internalized the patriarchal lens. McCain wanted a mindless colluder and that is exactly what he got when he chose Palin. That she calls herself a feminist or feels that she can reference Ferraro and HRC is disgusting. I may be not fan of HRC but Palin isn't worthy to carry her pantsuit much less wear it.
I mean, other than our collective inability to talk about anything else?
You know it has been less than 48 hours and I am already sick of hearing her name. I understand that what happened was incredibly important but there is a little thing like a hurricane right now that seems to be getting overlooked in our desire to find out every little intimate secret about this woman. There is plenty of time between now and November to get a good sense of how she really is but in the meantime the world has not come to halt. People are still suffering, living and dying and our obsession with her is quickly beginning to sicken me.
I agree, Renee.
At first, I was excited to see that people weren't going to let this go unnoticed.
Once I woke up this morning and saw everyone was still writing new posts and all of that... ugh... I'm tired.
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