By Jackie Lichter.
So, it’s been four days since McCain announced his VP choice – Governor Sarah Palin – and I’ve had some time to think about what this choice means to me as a politically active woman. I was struck by what McCain’s pick means in terms of the glass ceiling and the GOP ticket – it’s an important precedent. That said, I have some grave concerns about Palin’s record and lack thereof, and I believe these concerns will be echoed in the minds of other women voters. Let’s examine why…
First, Palin is staunchly anti-abortion. She believes that abortion should be illegal unless a woman’s life is considered to be at risk. This includes instances of rape or incest [Juneau Empire, “Abortion Draws Clear Divide in State Races,” accessed 8/29/08 and Anchorage Daily News, “Governor’s Race: Top contenders meet one last time to debate,” 11/03/06.] She’s a member of Feminists for Life, a group whose website brandishes the slogan, “Refuse to Choose – Women Deserve Better than Abortion” and uses traditional scare tactics to frighten women away from abortion services, like a section titled “We Remember” that “commemorate[s] the lives of women lost to legal abortion.”
Governor Palin also believes that Sex Ed in schools should be confined to “abstinence only.” Yet, according to recent reports, her 17-year-old daughter is 5 months pregnant. You can’t help but be struck by the hypocrisy: she’s not able to keep her own child on the straight and narrow abstinence-only path, yet she thinks everyone else’s kids should be held to it and not be taught about how to stay healthy and safe if they stray?
So, will women and other rational voters be able to look past all this? I don’t think so. Women are not going to vote for a woman just because she’s a woman. One of the first factors women look at is a candidate’s position on choice. NARAL recently published a study that shows an anti-abortion candidate will draw pro-choice Republican and Independent women to Obama. I believe McCain will lose more pro-choice Republican and Independent women that will reject the now firmly anti-choice GOP ticket than he’ll pick up staunch conservatives who favor Palin’s political views.
Besides her position on choice and Sex Ed, Palin just doesn’t seem to be an experienced leader. She has been Governor for less than two years, and while her record on reform is decent, I’m not confident in her ability to lead. Take the following radio interview Palin did with “The Bob and Mark Show” which an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily news called “plain and simple one of the most unprofessional, childish and inexcusable performances I’ve ever seen from a politician.” The radio host called the State Senate President “a cancer and a b****.” He also referred to her being overweight. The Senate President happens to be a cancer survivor – apparently a well-known fact in Alaska (one Palin clearly knew). You can listen to the clip yourself here but be prepared to be appalled. Not only does Palin not condemn the comments, she laughs – actually she giggles, which I think is worse. Now, you could forgive the laughter, but at the end of the interview she goes so far as to tell the radio hosts that she’d be honored to host them at the State Capital anytime. Any leader, let alone a governor, should have the decency to stand up for others when they are being viciously attacked. When that leader is a woman and she’s condoning another woman being called a b****, it’s just disgusting.
Finally, you would imagine that a Vice Presidential candidate should have some understanding of history. When asked if she was offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, she responded, “Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.” Now, it’s possible that she actually intended to name President Eisenhower as a “founding father” but I would say, generally speaking, “our founding fathers” refers to those political leaders who signed the Declaration of Independence. I mean, it must be the case if this is the first hit when googling “Founding Fathers.”
Bottom line is this: Naming an anti-abortion, inexperienced, and historically- challenged woman as McCain’s VP does nothing to change my mind in who I’m supporting for President.
Jackie Lichter has lived in Montgomery County for 28 years. She is a former teacher in MCPS and is currently the Political Director for SEIU Local 500. She serves on the Executive Board for Committee for Montgomery, is the Vice President for the Maryland Legislative Agenda for Women, and is chair of the Policy and Legislation Committee for the Montgomery County Commission for Women. The views posted above are completely independent and not reflective of any of the organizations to which she belongs.