McCain's VP Choice

[Someone made a cute little comment on Twitter, about how amusing it is that Canadians care so much about the American election. Why do we? Because anything America does tends to affect Canada, that’s why. Protectionist folks want Bush, err, McSame, to win so our trade policies don’t get negatively impacted. People like me, however, are tired of the conservative climate that contagiously caught to Canada during the Bush era. My life has notably changed, my freedoms have notably changed, as a result of the oppressive climate down south. Our policies don’t affect Americans day-to-day so they never care about our votes. Americans affect us daily, ergo, many of us live vicariously through your happenings, because we know the tumble-down effect will hit us shortly. And how.]
Why should McCain’s Vice-President pick offend any thinking, smart women in the world?
He met Palin once, then decided she was the one. Just like that. Shazam. Experience? Pshaw! She’s cute!
But who is she really? Just a hockey mom with five kids who decides to be a toughie on finance in office as governor of Alaska, a state with around 300,000 people… after her illustrious career as a mayor of a town with 9,000 people? Is she just a gimmicky leader, like her stunt of selling the Alaskan governor’s airplane on eBay, then stuffing the proceeds into the state coffers and opting to fly coach?
She’s a woman so given to petty politics and favour-making that she’s under ethical investigation for trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from a high-paying state job in Alaska after the ink on the divorce with her sister has died. I mean, she’s UNDER investigation. It has not been resolved, she has not been cleared, and yet she’s nominated as a running mate? Yeah, way to vet her, guys.
If you’re a feminist and you’re sitting around thinking, “Oh, yes, but she’s a woman. She strings whole sentences together! Yay, women! Women rock!” then give your head a fucking shake, would you? Yeah, sorry, there’s no argument praising Palin you can make because the facts speak for themselves. She’s under investigation, has never done foreign policy, hasn’t even been in charge of a town of more then 50,000 people, or a state with half a million folks, yet if Mr. I-Had-Cancer-Four-Times and Will-Be-Oldest-Prez-Ever should kick the bucket in office, SHE takes over as leader of the free world? Well, at least we know she can get a good price for Airforce One.
When smart, powerful, deserving women get appointed to positions of power, it’s a compliment to women across the board. McCain could’ve picked Christine Todd Whitman, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Elizabeth Dole, Kaye Bailey Hutchinson, or any number of other smart, established women on the American scene. He could have. Hell, he should have.
Instead, he’s arrogantly picked someone who’s cute as a button, has barely any experience, and who’s an easy-to-sell all-American hockey mom. Unfortunately, she’s supposed to be pandering to the disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters… yet not one of her policies is compatible with Hillary’s. Oh, but she’s in the pocket of oil and gas, and I guess that’s always helpful if you want to be a Republican vice-prez.
I think it’s high time women be included more frequently in top level politics. We’ve shown we’re as smart, as innovative, as communicative, and as ambitious.
But choosing the cuter girl over the more experienced, more established, more credential-heavy, more proven women out there who might just be over 45?
That’s not the change we need. That’s the same old misogyny, just dressed up prettier for 6:00 sound-bites.
Obama’s right. McCain just doesn’t get it. Do you?

8 thoughts on “McCain's VP Choice

  1. Mariella

    Was talking about this on a date the other night–yes, religion AND politics in the first two hours and we were, miraculously, still speaking when it was through!

    Frankly, the second I heard about this, I just wanted to punch McCain in the face. It is just such a dirty, rotten tactic and is so fucking transparent. It’s an insult.

    His decision to pick Palin shows me that it could have been anything breathing and human with tits and he would have chosen it for a running-mate. Who she is and what she stands for is absolutely secondary to the demographic she’s meant to attract.

    That’s the whole point behind VP selection, I suppose–the strategic nature of it all, roping in otherwise unattainable supporters–but the fact that his choice is *designed* to make me feel like I’m being a criminal to my own sex if I don’t get behind this woman, it infuriates me.

    Oh well, Hillary couldn’t do it, but, heck, we still have a shot at breaking through that glass ceiling and turning male-dominated Washington topsy turvy! I mean, nevermind that she’s this gun-toting, well-drilling, soccer mom with no experience to speak of–she has ovaries! Victory is ours!

    It scares me slightly that some of Hillary’s people could get so caught-up choking on all of that bile that they start reaching for this Kool-Aid, but as my brilliant date pointed out, this really is a good sign, all in all.

    It just goes to show how desperate McCain is to keep himself in this game, and that he feels this race slipping away from him.

    Picking a female VP in order to pander to potential voters means he knew damn well that another stodgy old white guy wasn’t going to cut it, wasn’t going to be enough. He’s going to try to appeal to this spirit of change and progression by faking it–playing on petty emotions and fears, which is the Republican way. We just have to hope that, ultimately, common sense wins out.

    Sigh. I think I’m done now.

  2. Scribe Called Steff

    Single Gal– Probably! I haven’t looked into that yet, and am flying out the door.

    Mariella– More to say on your rant later (which rocks) but, yeah, like I said on my other blog, he sure as fuck couldn’t pick a black running mate because THAT would be too obvious. So, y’know, a girl works! One with nothing really to offer, who will look pretty, do as she’s told, and prop him up… like any good 1950s woman would do.

    Wonder if she expects equal pay for the job? ‘Cos McCain’s not really a fan of that equal pay thing, you know. (Hasn’t he voted it down 19 or 20 times now?)

  3. Dave

    She’s anti-choice, even in cases of rape or incest. She’s in favor of a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. She’s for teaching creationism in the the schools. She’s in Big Oil’s pocket to the extent that she doesn’t think that polar bears should be on the endangered list (going against even the Bush Administration on this one). And the extent of her foreign policy experience? Consider this: she didn’t get her first passport until 2007.

    I knew that McCain would choose a female running mate the moment that Obama did not. But Sarah Palin? They say that the choice of a running mate is the first real presidential decision a candidate makes. So what does a side-by-side evaluation of Obama and McCain’s decisions tell us? Plenty. And frighteningly so. If nothing else, it tells us how seriously each man takes the war in Iraq and the foreign policy of this country in general. Even beyond the domestic stuff, voters of both genders need to keep that in mind when going to the polls.

  4. Anonymous

    Palin has already been compared to another Dan Quayle as a running mate–
    This doesn’t surprise me in the least, given McCain’s “…drop us in the middle of the forest naked with a hunting knife and see who wins…” mentality.

    It is a desperate attempt at saving a desperate bid for the white house. I could speak volumes, but will leave it at, he’s an idiot and deserves to lose yet again.

  5. C.J. Strata

    The part that aggravates me the most isn’t the fact that he picked her for the VP. In fact, that doesn’t aggravate me much of at all; seems awfully dumb, but I wasn’t going to vote for him anyway. The part that’s aggravating is that there are people out there who WILL vote for him now, simply because he picked her.

    Of course, on the plus side, there are also people who now WON’T vote for him because of that pick. I’d like to think so, anyway. đŸ˜‰

    And to completely derail the political conversation for a second—and this is of course just my perspective, but—she’s cute?

    Really? =/

  6. Anonymous

    As a rich old guy, I have to say I am disgusted by this pick. The maverick is destroying our party. We have a strong track record of opressing women and minorities, and we are the greatest nation in the world. The Maverick and the MILF will not be getting my vote. Maybe we could trade her for Biden.
    At least he looks like an Exxon board member.

    But seriously folks, I would be concerned if he didn’t check out her rack.

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