From Womanspace September/October 2008
 "Sue’s Views"**

McCain's Choice

A woman is keeping me up at night.  That sentence in a feminist publication could be the beginning of a joke.  But when I tell you the woman is Sarah Palin, I for one, am not ready to laugh.

I do not usually write in this space about elections.  The reason for that is that we are inundated with news and commentary and I do not feel it is necessary for me to add to the noise.  But with Palin it’s different Her nomination is a feminist issue.

Speaking of noise, it is now deafening.  I think all NOW members already know that Palin has no foreign affairs experience and actually didn’t own a passport until recently.  This is one issue that I find very disturbing.  We know she is completely anti-choice.  Doesn’t believe in sex-education in the schools.  Went after lots of federal money for Alaska, all the time saying she does not believe in earmarks.  Tried to remove books she did not agree with and probably had not read from the public library.

What is more she has limited administrative experience and, what everyone is too polite to say, a very checkered education.  To deny that education is experience is just silly.

His exceptional education is one of Obama’s great assets, and I wish someone would begin to say that.

So far Palin has not talked much about national and international issues.  But I did hear her talk a little about the economy on CNN.  It was so obvious she was reciting from a script written by someone else.  It was a scene from theatre played by a mediocre actress.  None of it seemed deeply felt.  All I can say is to hear Palin on issues is to really appreciate Hillary Clinton.  When Hillary spoke – whether one agreed with her or not – one felt her view was really believed by Hillary and was based on a lifetime of thinking, learning, observing and acting upon by a very smart woman.

There remains for me two things to discuss that have not gotten much attention in the press.  Because Palin is photogenic and sometimes says amusing things, she is getting an inordinate amount of TV time.  Stations like CNN keep replaying parts of her speeches.  It’s as if Biden had nothing to say.  One of television’s criteria for replay seems to be that Palin speaks in simple sentences, and Biden does not reduce complex issues to sound bites.  Good for Biden.

The feminist issue here is that this is the first time that feminists have been put in the position of waging a unified attack against a woman running for a major political office.  Of course other anti-choice women have run for office and feminists have opposed them.  But the stakes have never been so high because Palin is not only the wrong choice for feminists but is the wrong choice for a cause even greater than feminism – the well-being of our country.

Some may say, “ but she is not running for president.”  We all know the argument that Senator McCain is old and she might in fact become our president.  And that is really a frightening prospect.  But the greater immediate question here is what sort of judgment did McCain exhibit by choosing her.  Now, if McCain had picked – let us say – Condoleezza Rice -- feminists might have a problem choosing.  A Rice-Biden debate would surely be worth listening to.  But then no president wants to be eclipsed by his v.p.
 

**Suzanne Messing is a member of the Northern New Jersey NOW chapter.

Contact Sue and/or Northern New Jersey NOW at NNJNOW@nownj.org.