Mary Lyon, From The Left -- World News Trust
Where is Lloyd Bentsen when we need him? The distinguished Texas Democratic Senator, who died two years ago, probably would be rolling over in his grave to see what’s happening now. More than actually rolling over, I imagine he’d be trying to find a way to tunnel himself out to settle another political-presumption score.
Someone needs to tell Alaska Governor Sarah Palin: we know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of ours. And Governor, you’re no Hillary Clinton.
John McCain and Sarah Palin both evidently feel that all it takes is the mere possession of a vagina to win a woman’s vote. Maybe in a few cases that’s true. But it’s also insulting. I’ve been doing a little unscientific and highly unofficial polling of my own and finding that the McCain running-mate strategy may not necessarily be a slam dunk. In querying my women friends whether around my neighborhood or within my own “sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits,” and throughout the blogosphere -- both those whom I know and those I’m reading about whom somebody else knows, this may not be “Signed, Sealed, and Delivered” for the GOP.
A majority of the women weighing in with me have ramped up their overall cynicism about John McCain because of this. They see the choice of Palin as a bald-faced, even phony, ploy to tempt them by waving the X chromosome around in front of their faces. Attention all passed-over Hillar-ites! Candidate with skirt on Aisle One! One size fits all! If it’s a woman you want, try our model! Yeah. That’s the ticket.
But it isn’t. Women aren’t a homogenous group who all march in lockstep. And if McCain really thought he was trying to appeal to Clinton supporters, why would he pick THIS woman – who stands staunchly against almost everything Clinton has been working for throughout her life as an activist. There is no blind gender loyalty. We aren’t wooed just because the prospect wears lipstick and high heels and dangle earrings and speaks with a voice in the upper registers. It doesn’t matter what kind of mom she is – hockey, soccer, cookie-baker or not. A Hillary Clinton voter wants a Hillary Clinton-style candidate with Hillary Clinton-style priorities. Such a prospect would have to honor and want to secure a woman’s fundamental right to have the last word over what happens to her body – particularly in its most intimate parts. Hillary’s agenda, like ours, features progressive issues like universal health care, family leave, equal pay for equal work, a solid defense of our delicate ecosystem and all its endangered creatures, and a determination to look beyond a simplistic knee-jerk quick-fix like drilling, drilling, and more drilling to solve our energy crisis. Sarah Palin offers none of this.
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