Impaling, the remix
The other major critisism of Sarah Palin that we heard when she was first picked was that John McCain only picked her because she was a woman. And how stupid did McCain think we were that just because he picked someone with a vagina to be his running mate, now we would all vote for him. And furthermore if he was going to pick a woman just for the sake of picking a woman, why didn't he pick someone better qualified (more well known in layman's terms.) This complaint was sung almost entirely by women who, i am fairly certain, were all hillary supporters. At least from those in the media, but i have also heard this complaint from other democrats i know whether they are male or female.
Now there are several levels on which this complaint makes no sense, so we will start with the most obvious. It has been, and had been at that time widely reported that McCain wanted to pick Lieberman as his running mate. Lieberman is a good friend of his, and he felt it would help show that he could reach across the political spectrum. It was also slightly less well reported that his second choice was tom ridge. Now tom ridge and lieberman both have one thing in common, they are pro choice. McCain was told repeatedly by republicans, and eventually possibly by lieberman himself, that it would be an impossible choice. That he would start a fight on the floor of the convention if he tried to nominate a pro-choice VP. So it's clear that McCain did not choose her because of her Vagina, he chose her because she was strongly anti abortion. I'm not saying the vagina didn't factor into the decision at all, i'm sure it did, but it was not the primary deciding factor (unless lieberman has a vagina i don't know about.)
Further complain if he was going to pick a woman just for the sake of picking a woman why didn't he pick a better qualified candidate. Once again this is a null statement. Clearly if he was going to pick a woman ONLY for the sake of picking a woman, he would have picked the most reconizable, highest ranking, most qualified woman. There would be no other criteria other than woman, and then leading member of the party who fit that description. To make both complaints in a single article is not something a reasonable person could do, which is why it is so entirely not shocking that it is exactly what many reporters/columnists/commentators/whatever they call themselves did.
Once again i'm not claiming her sex didn't enter into the equation at all, but such things always enter into the equation. I northerner like Kerry will pick a southerner like edwards to help him in southern states. The vice president is almost always useless, and picked with the hope that he can help generate a a bit of interest in any group of people, whether it is geographical, socio-economic, gender, race, age, or anything else. The pick of Palin has cemented the support of the far right, and the evangelicals because of her strong stance on abortion. Whether or not she brings in a single democratic female she has already brought in far more people just by solidifying the base than biden ever will, and probably more people than any other VP for McCain could have.
I am of the opinion that McCain picked her for 2 reasons. 1 He thought of her like himself, willing to take on the republican party, which she did in alaska, beating a sitting governor in a primary, which i didn't even know was possible, and taking on the oil companies in alaska, which i'm sure are very very powerful. Whether or not people agree about either one of them, i think that's what McCain saw. And 2, it was a hail mary. He couldn't just go with the safe pick like Obama did. He didn't someone to bring new energy and life to the race. Pawlenty was not going to do that. From what i've read in MN newspapers, pawlenty wasn't even going to bring MN. I think that the idea that Palin was picked only for her gender is both inaccurate, and insulting to both Palin and McCain. If he had picked a black VP everyone would be saying he was picked because he was black, or hispanic, or anything other than a white man. Now McCain can't pick anyone except for a white man without being blasted for pandering to the public? It's just silly.
Now there are several levels on which this complaint makes no sense, so we will start with the most obvious. It has been, and had been at that time widely reported that McCain wanted to pick Lieberman as his running mate. Lieberman is a good friend of his, and he felt it would help show that he could reach across the political spectrum. It was also slightly less well reported that his second choice was tom ridge. Now tom ridge and lieberman both have one thing in common, they are pro choice. McCain was told repeatedly by republicans, and eventually possibly by lieberman himself, that it would be an impossible choice. That he would start a fight on the floor of the convention if he tried to nominate a pro-choice VP. So it's clear that McCain did not choose her because of her Vagina, he chose her because she was strongly anti abortion. I'm not saying the vagina didn't factor into the decision at all, i'm sure it did, but it was not the primary deciding factor (unless lieberman has a vagina i don't know about.)
Further complain if he was going to pick a woman just for the sake of picking a woman why didn't he pick a better qualified candidate. Once again this is a null statement. Clearly if he was going to pick a woman ONLY for the sake of picking a woman, he would have picked the most reconizable, highest ranking, most qualified woman. There would be no other criteria other than woman, and then leading member of the party who fit that description. To make both complaints in a single article is not something a reasonable person could do, which is why it is so entirely not shocking that it is exactly what many reporters/columnists/commentators/whatever they call themselves did.
Once again i'm not claiming her sex didn't enter into the equation at all, but such things always enter into the equation. I northerner like Kerry will pick a southerner like edwards to help him in southern states. The vice president is almost always useless, and picked with the hope that he can help generate a a bit of interest in any group of people, whether it is geographical, socio-economic, gender, race, age, or anything else. The pick of Palin has cemented the support of the far right, and the evangelicals because of her strong stance on abortion. Whether or not she brings in a single democratic female she has already brought in far more people just by solidifying the base than biden ever will, and probably more people than any other VP for McCain could have.
I am of the opinion that McCain picked her for 2 reasons. 1 He thought of her like himself, willing to take on the republican party, which she did in alaska, beating a sitting governor in a primary, which i didn't even know was possible, and taking on the oil companies in alaska, which i'm sure are very very powerful. Whether or not people agree about either one of them, i think that's what McCain saw. And 2, it was a hail mary. He couldn't just go with the safe pick like Obama did. He didn't someone to bring new energy and life to the race. Pawlenty was not going to do that. From what i've read in MN newspapers, pawlenty wasn't even going to bring MN. I think that the idea that Palin was picked only for her gender is both inaccurate, and insulting to both Palin and McCain. If he had picked a black VP everyone would be saying he was picked because he was black, or hispanic, or anything other than a white man. Now McCain can't pick anyone except for a white man without being blasted for pandering to the public? It's just silly.
posted by Trashcan at 9/07/2008 10:57:00 PM
1 Comments:
what if he does have a vagina that you don't know about? what if everybody does, even you?
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