John McCain is potentially committing political suicide with his VP pick in Sarah Palin. Or is he? McCain and his campaign advisors clearly feel that by putting a female -- any female-- on the ticket, he may bridge the gap and win over some disgruntled Clinton voters.
While Sarah is clearly charming and confident and may appeal to the conservative base with her strong pro-life position, she is no Hillary Clinton. In fact, Sarah and Hillary could not be further apart in their bios (or lack thereof in Palin's case).
While most of us women are thrilled to see a woman on the ticket in this election the presumption that Clinton voters will just 'come on over based on gender is mildly insulting. This clear misunderstanding on the part of political advisors to get in the minds of women is not uncommon. Women are not simply advocating women in positions of authority but more importantly getting the right person in the position to get the right job done. This means voting on the issues and by party ideology first, gender second.
Having said all that, in this case, I could be entirely wrong. Who will win this race is anyone's guess. Perhaps Palin will move the needle. Maybe women are so disgruntled that they will take this platform to make a point with their vote. One thing is for sure, I now have a reason to tune into the Republican convention.
While Sarah is clearly charming and confident and may appeal to the conservative base with her strong pro-life position, she is no Hillary Clinton. In fact, Sarah and Hillary could not be further apart in their bios (or lack thereof in Palin's case).
While most of us women are thrilled to see a woman on the ticket in this election the presumption that Clinton voters will just 'come on over based on gender is mildly insulting. This clear misunderstanding on the part of political advisors to get in the minds of women is not uncommon. Women are not simply advocating women in positions of authority but more importantly getting the right person in the position to get the right job done. This means voting on the issues and by party ideology first, gender second.
Having said all that, in this case, I could be entirely wrong. Who will win this race is anyone's guess. Perhaps Palin will move the needle. Maybe women are so disgruntled that they will take this platform to make a point with their vote. One thing is for sure, I now have a reason to tune into the Republican convention.
1 comment:
The appointment of Sara Palin was a major insult on so many levels. Did McCain really think that we (women) would not figure out that he was manipulating the US female voters? He underestimated and insulted women's intelligence. Women aspire to more than the trophy "help-mate" depiction of our contribution. The fallout of the McCain/Palin loss could possibly affect the chances of any women running for office in the near future. Unfortunately, it is Sara Palin who has the most to lose.
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