The arguments against voting for Sarah Palin are innumerable to many of us. If nothing else, the fact that she is a vindictive, cronyistic, hypocrite who distorts her own record for public gain should cause all of us to wonder about Senator John McCain’s sanity, and his ability to govern this nation. Unfortunately, the only argument that I have ever heard for voting for McCain-Palin on the issue of Palin is that she is a woman. Yes, Sarah Louise Heath Palin has a vagina. Why should I vote for a politician whose views run counter to everything I believe simply because she has a vagina?It comes down to the idea that we should vote for Sarah Palin simply because we, as women, should vote for a woman because they believe that no other woman will manage to stand for the Highest pair of Offices in the land in my, the speaker’s, life time. This might be true if you have the life expectancy of a mayfly. I have seen it twice in my life time so far. The first was in 1984 when Geraldine Anne Ferraro stood as Walter Mondale’s Vice Presidential candidate, and the second is twenty-four years after that with Sarah Palin. Given that, why should we vote for a woman who wishes to eviscerate the rights of the poor, middle-class and anyone who opposes her? Why should we vote for a woman whose appointed police chief felt that it was wrong to bill the tax payers for rape kits and instead billed the victims instead? Why should we vote for a woman who opposes any kind of equality for gays and lesbians, and belongs to a church which promotes ‘conversion therapy’? If the answer is simply ‘because she is a woman, and no other woman will run for those two offices again soon’, then that answer is wrong. After all, it has now happened twice in the span of thirty years.
But, Palin's cadidacy highlights the rise of women in the political arena today. There are a total of one hundred and one women in major office today. Rumors have swirled around Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona for some time now. It is likely that this popular governor will be running for the Senate in 2010, and may even attempt a run at the White House after that. There are, currently, eight women sitting in Governor’s Mansions across the country, including Sarah Palin, and many have far more experience than the Alaska governor. There are sixteen women including Senator Hilary Clinton sitting in the Senate today, and any one of them might choose to run for the Presidency in four to eight years. Of course, a woman also holds one of the four most powerful positions in the Land, the Speakership of the House.Women are coming up the ranks all the time, as well. Women are taking over Governorships and running for Congress all the time now. With all the negatives surrounding Governor Sarah Palin, I think I will wait for the next woman to run. It is doubtful that it will be another twenty-four years before she arrives on the scene.
2 comments:
Great post! As one of Gov. Napolitano's constituents, I can say that I am proud to have her as my governor. She's smart, insightful and really knows how to listen. I hate to lose her as a governor in 2010, but you know I'll be supporting her run for the Senate.
Dharma-
Thank you. I did a lot of reading up on Gov. Napolitano and actually rewrote this post substantially because of her. The only 'negative' in terms of Presidential politics that I can think of is that she is single. However, aside from the slathering rumor mongers who will attack her for being lesbian, which she has stated she is not, I think she has a really solid chance of being a Senator or even President.
And, yeah, term limits really put a crimp in having good elected officials, but then, you get a rotten one in there and it becomes impossible to remove them.
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