Palin
Some reactions to Sarah Palin for VP.
First, I have to say that my dad suggested that McCain would pick Palin over a month ago. I thought he was nuts.
Second, this choice clearly succeeded in changing the political conversation from being about Obama’s speech.
Third, I don’t know if it will make any difference to the election. In general, very few people vote based on the VP choice. It will make the Christian right more eager to get up on a wet November morning, but might scare some folks on the fence who worry that McCain’s VP might actually wind up in the Oval Office in the next four years. It might win some Hillary voters, but will piss off others who see it as meaning that McCain thinks they’re stupid (or that she’s a younger and less qualified woman getting what they fought for).
Fourth, I don’t think she’s qualified to be President. But I’m not sure she’s that much less qualified than, say, Mitt Romney. He was Governor of Massachusetts for 4 years; she’s been Governor of Alaska for 2 years. He’s got more business experience; she’s got more local government experience. And even the people who like Romney’s politics think he’s plastic, while by all accounts she’s quite real and is very popular in her state.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I cannot fathom why nobody questions the advisability of the mother of a young infant with Downs Syndrome even considering taking on the responsibilities and heavy schedule of the VP, thereby placing herself one elderly heartbeat away from the presidency. I find it incredibly selfish and irresponsible and I am stunned.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Would you feel differently if it were the father of an infant with Downs Syndrome?
August 30th, 2008 at 12:13 am
I wouldn’t feel much differently. I was apalled when John Edwards made the decision to run for president despite knowing that his wife’s cancer was no longer in remission. I felt that he ought to be planning on spending as much time as possible with her and their young children. Of course that became a moot point when we found out who he actually preferred spending his free time with.
But to answer your question, if Sarah Palin’s husband were a stay-at-home husband, rather than one with both a full-time and a part-time job, I would perhaps view this differently. If it were a man with an infant with Downs Syndrome and the mother was not working, I would feel differently. But truthfully, I will confess to believing that a woman who recently gave birth to a baby should spend as much time with it as possible at least until it’s a few years old, Downs Syndrome or not. This may not be PC but it’s what I believe.
I seriously can’t imagine what this country’s future is if we aren’t outraged at the prospect that the mother of an infant with Downs Syndrome wants to spend the next four years with very little free time for that baby or her other children.
August 30th, 2008 at 7:51 am
While I agree that folks generally don’t make their vote based on the Veep pick, here is someone who says he WONT vote for Obama because he doesn’t like Biden: http://lawandletters.blogspot.com/2008/08/why-i-wont-be-voting-for-obama-this.html
These are generally things I dislike about Biden, too, but I plan on deciding between Obama and McCain based on their own positions and events over the next month or so. Palin is arguably more important than Biden, since McCain is old and could well die in office, while Obama seems tremendously fit, at least for a smoker, and is much younger.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Todd Palin is not only stay-home, but ludicrously manly. Former high-salary oil guy; now mixes daddyhood with racing dogsleds. Family goes hunting together. Family’s beautiful; the boy’s manly like his daddy, the girls range from cute to built, and the “we take and love what God gives us” baby’s named Trig.
I dunno, Elizabeth. These people look like CMT heartthrobs to me. Unless she really puts her foot in it, I think Sarah Palin’s going to be an asset to the McCain campaign. Doesn’t hurt that she doesn’t go around talking about her Princeton days, or that she didn’t have any. And there’s pix galore of her doing governor business with her baby in a sling, only woman in a crowd of the usual suits. You get the impression her first name is actually Ma’am.
August 31st, 2008 at 10:39 pm
I thought it could be a good choice, but I didn’t think she would take it, because I didn’t see how she could with a newborn with Downs. Unlike Beth, I don’t think it’s wrong (assuming that her children are going to be cared for by people who love them, and I think they will). But, I do want to know how she’s going to do it. I don’t one more person to go with the myth that you can carry your baby around in a sling and still run the United States (or even simply campaign for VP). If she’s open about how she’s going to do it, she’s going to have to talk about who actually cares for her child. I think there are people (like Beth) who may not end up liking the answers, because the answers are going to involve someone else spending most of the time with her kid. I have no problem with that as long as she’s chosen that person wisely. But, I don’t want it pretend that she’s the Enjoli Mom.
I do think it was politically a good choice for McCain, assuming that she’s going to be able to campaign, and I think the democrats are going to have to tread carefully on how they oppose her. I also think Hillary needs to step up to the plate for democrats and make some anti-Palin ads. Hillary needs to tell people in no uncertain terms that Palin and she are night and day.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:27 pm
If her husband was not a stay-at-home dad already he would soon become one if she was elected V.P. If Angelina Jolie can do it -have a lot kids, save the world and still make movies, why not Palin.
As a stauch Hillary supporter I was not buying the unity message in Denver. McCain handed it over to me. I am voting Obama because I can not see this country going backwards any further than it has under Bush in terms of ultra-conservative views. These views include anti-feminist, homophobia and bias towards people in poverty. From what I have read and heard this woman seems to be the female version of Reagan. And the only good things to come out of the Reagan years were Madonna and Prince.
September 1st, 2008 at 12:00 am
Well, we actually think that the job of President (and the VP has to be ready to step into that role) is harder than Angelina Jolie’s job is, no?
But, we also know how Jolie does it, with a coterie of multiple nannies. If that’s how Palin is doing it I want to know. Frankly, I want to know because I actually want her to be a role model of how to be a mother of five, including a new born, and run a vice presidential campaign, not because I would be judgmental about how she does it.
As a staunch Obama supporter, I’m glad McCain’s choice did it for you, urbanartiste, (though I don’t really understand how McCain’s choice of himself wouldn’t be sufficient, without adding the conservative views of Palin). I guess she is further to the right on drilling in ANWR and abortion (since she opposes it even in cases of rape & incest).
September 1st, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Ahem. This was just answered.
Palin’s husband stays home. My guess is they’ll have some respite care too, which is exactly what goes on in middle-class families when there’s a child with a disability. As for the rest, there’s an 18-yo, a 17-yo, another teen, and a pre-teen. My guess is that the older children will also be pitching in to help care for the baby.
You know, like in families.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
bj, I guess I was under the illusion that McCain was a moderate Republican. The Palin pick seems like a Karl Rove tactic. I just think it is terible that the Republicans are using a woman to further ultra-conservative issues even if she is in line with their beliefs. They are making some bold statements through Palin, like abortion is never acceptible even in terms of medical issues. I guess I woke up. But I still wish Obama had picked Hillary – the V.P. debates would be the highest rated political TV ever.
I think the republicans are forgetting the constitution in that there is a separation of church and state. It is disturbing that they are still shoving fundamentalist Christian values to the American public while we are still fighting fundamentalist Islamic terrorists. It feels like the twilight zone.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Great conversation on a difficult topic. Across the blogosphere many women are having a frank conversation about Palin’s choices as a woman and a politician — which is great — as long as her troglodyte conservative policies aren’t made real. We should judge her on her backwards, medieval social views rather than her personal choices. It’s a fine line though.