What's He Going to Call Her in Public?

My responses to the Palin announcement in chronological order:

Who's that?

Is this a joke?

Who's that again?

She has a four month old baby and she's hitting the campaign trail?

Is she breastfeeding?

Does she know he has a history of abusing his wife in public?

Has she ever been called a "c***?"

Do they really think American women are that stupid?

A beauty queen?

Is she related to Katharine Harris?

Did the people who run his campaign know about this ahead of time?

What scandals is she embroiled in?

What was the last large animal she killed?

Does she pay her nanny's social security?

If the red phone rings in the middle of the night and she's breastfeeding, will she answer it?

Comments

[BillyT]

People running McCain's campaign have put in wagers in London that McCain will lose.

They were just stacking the odds in favor of that bet.

[mushroomboi]

ahm, excuse me, but where are the "family values" here

"Won't somebody please think of HER children"

(what's the appropriate symbol for cynical irony? I'm an HP newbie poster)

[NABNYC]

This whole breeding thing is a tad much. The current right-wing street-creds for females is dependent on the number of children that come from her own body. The more the better. A "true" woman just keeps popping them out, no matter her age, no matter the increased risk to a baby if mommy decides at 44 to have another one. This actually gives this lady greater credibility with the right wing.

For those bloggers who left their sense of humor packaged away with their Hillary buttons, the point isn't whether she's a new mother, it's whether anyone, McCain included, thought about this for ten seconds before picking her. Most mothers of 4 month old babies are still at home, not running national campaigns. Who's taking care of the baby? Or that also a Republican criteria: breed, pop them out until you're 60, drag them from ocean to ocean, and hold down 3 full-time jobs at the same time. Is that the idea? What ever happened to the concept of a woman taking time with her newborn? Maybe that's a Democratic viewpoint.

[thebeerdoctor]

NABNYC, the thing I noticed was that the Governor of Alaska has already had four other children, before her latest. It is not a biological clock ticking, it is simply sex without contraceptives. Sex in the bible thumping scheme of things, is for the begatten of children.. I mean Mrs. Palin had already experienced the miracle of motherhood, four times over. Science has shown that the older a woman is, the more likely complications will occur during pregnancy. But I guess that was not a part of the Palins' decision. Isn't this a matter on responsible judgment?

[zann]

Better stick to the non-sexist issues, or risk being called names by people such as me.

[RepugsOut08]

Oh, zann, I think those of us with a sense of humor will be able to withstand your name calling.

[WrongWayMcSame]

Harriet Myers for SCOTUS and Sarah Palin for Vice President. It's a matter of Republican distain for We, the People and our Constitutional Republic.

[CJsway]

Since the name Harriet Myers came up. . .I always thought she threw herself down on the proverbial sacrificial pyre so GW/DC could use her as a smokescreen and token woman knowing full well the hue and cry that would occur and with the intention from the start to pull her out after smoothing the way to put in their good ole boy conservative Alito and be able to say "well we tried to replace a woman with a woman but you didn't like our choice, so sad, too bad!"

In answer to Jane and what McSame will call Palin: I can't wait til he forgets himself and calls her 'dear' or 'sweetie' in public. Did anyone notice him twisting his wedding ring during her acceptance speech? Freudian, totally!

No matter what tho' can't let down the guard. This woman would be disastrous to women's rights and set us back a long way on the hard road that's been fought.

[gro]

Moose tastes better than polar bear?

[ESerafina42]

Well, it's got to taste better than squirrel cooked in a popcorn popper a la Huckabee. :)

[sherbug]

The question is, Will he pay her as much as he would pay a man VP?

[YouDisgustMe]

GOOD QUESTION lol

[Pseudonym]

BTW, I am breast feeding mother who has no problem doing my job exceptionally well. More to the point, what business is it of yours how she and her husband choose to feed her baby? A more important question is why Palin feels its her business to delve into the reproductive choices of other Americans.

[django707]

what country are you vice president of?

[dukelady66]

It's only a question because they presented the infant today as part & parcel of her credibility, which smacks of exploitation (she's prolife because she chose to have him, knowing he would be a special needs child)

Since you know the life this involves, and I don't, help me out. I don't know much about mothering, but I do know quite a bit about campaigns. A presidential campaign at this point is 70 days of 18-20 hours a day of being hustled from spot to spot, with poor diet, crowds, little to no sleep, constant demands on your intellect, sensitivity, communication and empathy. Because we have a 24-hr news cycle, you're expected to be "on message" and "on point" at all times, including debates. Aren't those first months the most crucial ones biologically and developmentally, for mothers and infants to bond? Don't special needs children especially need that contact?

[Gidster]

Good on you!
My wife was told she could not express milk at work. Even in the rest room. They called it "Disruptive"
You are right about her politics, she would take any control over your body you have.
Back to women as property of their husbands!!!

[Pseudonym]

Sexism is not necessary to criticize the choice of Palin for V.P. Her politics stink enough.

[mosh]

I agree. Ms. Smiley, you don't need to put down women in general to expose Sarah Palin for what this is - a cynical choice by a party filled with racists and chauvinists.

[Clarabell]

And, from what I understand, the child has Down Syndrome.

[burnspau]

As always, Jane, you are the voice of reason. I had the very same questions myself. Isn't it true that her newborn also has special needs?

[pianofan]

I'm with Jane on this - honestly, when I first heard that Palin just had a baby and a baby with Down's Syndrome at that, I was bugging. I mean, what the hell! That's a major distraction, sister! When my close friend had a Down's Syndrome baby, it knocked the family for a loop. They've nicely adjusted, but it took time. Even without the DS issue, any infant requires nonstop care. Look, I'm a feminist, but reality's a bitch. There's only so many hours in a day.

I've got problems with someone who has a small baby and then chooses to jump into a 24-7 campaign. We're not talking about 10 hour-a-day daycare here - we're talking about someone else raising your baby entirely. If McCain is actually elected, Palin won't even be able to come up for air for years.

I agree there are more substantive issues to discuss about McCain's insane choice, but this was my honest gut reaction to this news. It'll be a hoot to see if she and McCain emphasize her "mother of 5 credentials." Am not sure she has much else to recommend her and certainly don't consider her mother of the year after this.

Am dying to see if Palin will be pushing Republican "family values," like stay-at-home moms, when she's on the campaign trail.

[gage]

John F Kennedy served as president with two babies. Why is this only an issue if the candidate is a woman? The kids do have two parents, you know. What's with all this sexism I'm seeing here? I feel like I'm in a time warp.

[django707]

because babies tend to need their mommies more than their daddies.
and BTW, it is a slightly time consuming job.

[SgtLucifer]

gaga, you do know that a mother plays a different role in her newborn's life that everybody else, don't you? OR are you just toooo gaga to know?

[ESerafina42]

We're judging them by their own standards, for one thing, and by their standards it's the woman who's supposed to stay home with the baby. Also, their is that little matter of Kennedy being President almost 50 years ago, when even Democrats had the same expectations.

[YouDisgustMe]

but you forget....jfk did not have to breastfeed

[dukelady66]

I've been asking myself the same thing, trying to turn it around in my head. All I can come up with is that you can't have it both ways. We (America, particularly the conservative ranks) want women to function in these traditional roles (at home mom, homeschooling, bonding, teaching and shaping the young lives). The prolife movement places huge emphasis on the bond of mother and child, the birth process, the passing of life to another life.

But, in this vein, there's something creepy, (and yes, elitist) about a mother who could leave her 16 week old special needs infant to go campaign in a 24 hour intense effort to win what has traditionally been the bastion of male privilege. You can only do this if you have full-time child care (nannies, wet nurses, etc...) and that smacks to me of antebellum days when babies were handed over to servants or slaves while the birth mothers went off to do something else other than be bothered. The more I think about it, it's not pro-family, it's not a balancing act, it's prioritizing naked ambition over both those things...For a woman who didn't want the job, who said in an interview that she didn't know what the VP "did all day" it's either very calculated or highly irresponsible. Either way, she's lost me...I may be disappointed in Obama, but there's no way I could support this ticket. Maybe Hillary 2012...

[Curmudgeon53]

Yeah, I thought this wasn't very nice either - but I thought it all . . . . Especially since I think it's all well and good if someone wants a career - MORE POWER TO HER - and make CERTAIN she gets equal pay for equal work. But then why have another child??? And there is no way she can be breastfeeding is there? I think breastfeeding is not only an important family value - it's a matter of the environment, big business. So, how does this work? Who is raising the children??? Isn't her husband working on the North Slope in the oil fields? Hey, their choice - but then don't preach at the rest of us about family values. I only hope that women ARE smarter than this patronizing choice.

[Meteor]

I am going to vote for Obama/Biden, but having read her biography, I think Sarah Palin is more ready
to be the Vice President and possibly the President than George W. Bush ever was .

[Clarabell]

Well, that's say'en a lot

[Jimmyboyo]

LOL

:-)

a c heese sandwich was/is more qualified than jr

[gage]

"Does she know he has a history of abusing his wife in public?"

What on earth are you referring to, and do have any evidence that this happened?

Also, why don't you ask the Obamas about their nanny? Oh yeah, that question is only for female candidates. With the Hillary campaign and now with the Palin nomination, I really thought we had moved beyond such sexism in politics, but obviously I was wrong.

Hillary was right--Obama supporters are very sexist.

[slc20]

The Obama's "nanny" is the girls' grandmother, Michelle's mom.

[gage]

I don't care who watches the Obama kids, or the Palin kids.

I asked: why is this question asked only of female candidates? If you were an old-school feminist, as i was, you'd know that this issue came up with female Clinton-era appointees. Only the female appointees were asked about HOW THEIR NANNIES WERE PAID, as if a male appointee couldn't be held responsible for such things.

It was an outrage, and I'm just astonished that this columnist went there.

[BADEN]

Boy, Adam Putnam's perky puppies were called out in force today, eh?

He called his wife a c*nt in public. That is a known fact.

Where you been - under a rock these last months?

[gage]

How is this a "known fact"? Do you have a link to any evidence? Audio, eyewitnesses?

Don't bother to do a search, because i already know the answer--there is no evidence that this actually happened, but that hasn't stopped this theme from becoming HuffPo urban myth.

[Jimmyboyo]

The Obama's have no nanny

When Michele isn't there then her mother is taking care of the 2 girls

[YouDisgustMe]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

"hillary was right" lol that one's getting old.......silly troll

[klmebane]

mccain called his wife a trollop and a c*nt in front of a room full of reporters. go to youtube and type in "he said it first."

[MarciL]

"Who's that?

Is this a joke?

Who's that again?"

THAT was a valid response.

The crack about breastfeeding was not.

[mosh]

Yup. Just shows we can all be stupid about politics.