RNC Speech Proves Sarah Palin is Not "Every Woman"

There aren't many things more disturbing than watching a bunch of stodgy white Republicans mechanically bop around to the beat of Earth Wind & Fire's "Dancin' in September." But it was a necessary evil in order to be sure and hear from McCain's pick for President -- once he knocks off a few months following his inauguration if elected.

I've gotta say that as a feminist and former Hillary-supporter, I had a big twinge of jealousy to have the Republicans be the only ticket to represent both sides of humanity this election. I've got two kids with special needs, so it made it even harder to hear all the flippant references to Sarah Palin's "Downs baby" the last few days.

But early on in the speech, when she said to families with special needs children, "You'll have a friend in the White House", it melted away her enchanting 'folksy' personality on stage and highlighted a solid truth: She is the definitive portrait of right-wing hackery.

In fact, Mrs. Palin has chosen to get behind a man who refuses to acknowledge that No Child Left Behind is not only a failure for our educational system, it is specifically horrific for special needs children and the underprivileged.

The GOP is wasting no time in attempting to capitalize on the sexism encountered during the Democratic primary. With fingers crossed, they're clearly betting on the Obama campaign and commentators going a little bit too far in their criticisms and be perceived as overly harsh in their criticisms of Palin.

The narrative that Karl Rove and other desperate Republican commentators are trying to push is that all women, especially Hillary supporters, will identify with Governor Palin. In other words: don't piss the ladies off by criticizing her -- you know, because women are all emotional and stuff.

Rove desperately trying to defend the Republican VP nominee, said that the Democrats are basically shooting themselves in the foot to criticize Sarah Palin because she's "every woman."

And in the moments leading up to her speech, Rove cranked it up a notch during an interview with Fox's Sean Hannity by claiming Palin will basically be 'working from home' by running the free world from the White House.

But as a woman and feminist, I'm not buying all the rhetoric. Mainly because Sarah Palin is the most anti-women woman to hit national politics to date.

Indeed, not every woman can deliver quite as charming a speech as Governor Palin did at the Republican National Convention.

But not every woman comes from a church whose pastor preaches that critics of George W Bush will be banished to hell and that 9/11 was part of a war "contending for your faith." And not every woman thinks the Iraq war is part of God's plan.

Not every woman values fetuses, but not teenage mothers or their babies. (And that's a little ironic given her current situation -- not every woman both exploits and publicly shames her own daughter the same day.)

Not every woman gets support and encouragement from her in-laws to first run for office, then once elected governor, endorses a mayoral candidate running against her own mother-in-law.

Not every woman thinks it's perfectly alright for a woman to be paid less than a man for the same work.

Not every woman wants to plunder our wildlife refuges and make sure the oil companies get every last penny from our oil-addicted pockets, rather than work toward energy independence. And by that, I mean the kind of energy independence that doesn't mean pillaging land resources to keep our Hummers running.

Selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate is yet another way John McCain proves he's completely out of touch -- in not realizing women aren't manipulated so easily.

Not all of us are "hockey moms." In fact, in today's cash-strapped economy, affording an extra-curricular activity like hockey is something only for the elite, which the Republicans are pretending not to be this week.

Not every woman feels that giving up a lucrative law career, as Obama did, to be a community organizer in the poverty-stricken south side of Chicago is worthless work. In fact many women have given up careers to care for others.

Sarah Palin did an adept job as coming off as the female heroine during her convention speech. But that's the point -- McCain's bid for the presidency is dependent on someone rescuing it.

But no amount of skillful speeches from a well-dressed woman will convince my vagina to vote for an out-of-touch man who only wants more of the same.

Follow Kim Mance on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kimmance

Comments

[LS51]

I was a very strong supporter of Senator Clinton for the presidency, but part of that is because I saw her as a centrist, not an ultra-liberal. Her more conservator stands on foreign policy were more to my liking. So, when Obama decided to not take her on his ticket, it wasn't difficult for me to switch to the McCain/Palin ticket. I actually decided to vote for McCain prior to Palin being on the ticket (after Obama chose Biden for the vice presidency), but was elated when I learned McCain had chosen a woman. One of the major reasons why I was an ardent supporter of Hillary wasn't because of all her stands, but because she is a brilliant woman who had the possibility of breaking the glass ceiling for all women. I faced discrimination in my career field and was really hoping to see women elevated in our society so that there would be no barriers for women in any occupation. So, I am pleased to be able to vote for a woman for vice president. I wish that would have been Hillary, but Obama's short-sidedness prevented that from happening. I suspect that there will be many other centrist Hillary supporters voting for McCain/Palin.

[Majus]

I was impressed by Gov. Palin's speech; she did a good job, showing off her experience with public speaking. I was, however, greatly turned off by her use of sarcasm and negativity. I also wonder how well she would do if speaking extemporaneously. I suspect snippy sarcasm would be her style.

Another thing is about her and her family: when you see them as a group, they are just not the type of people one would accept as tenants in the White House -- and we the voters are their landlords.

Hopefully Sen. McCain and his handlers will wake up, smell the coffee, and replace her with a qualified running mate. Otherwise he's in deep trouble.

[Appalled]

Not every woman cut 62% of her state's budget to help educate special needs children, either. Of course, that was before she had one of her own ...

[sboucher]

A couple of things mystify me:

1) Why did Palin have the test (amnio?) that determined her baby would be born with Down Syndrome?
2) And that she DECIDED to keep same baby despite same?
3) And that her daughter has DECIDED to keep her baby and get married?
4) If their decisions are considered private family matters that have no place in politics, how come my decisions aren't?
5) What are the Republicans trying to distract us from? Whenever there's this kind of hoopla, it's because the administration is doing something they don't want us to notice; amid the Palin explosion, it'll get buried on page 15.

Thanks for many great points & speaking up for us real "every woman."

[wandering girl]

thank you, Kim. you have perfectly captured why McCain's pick is a pandering, pseudo-feminist, train wreck of a running mate choice. she didn't fool me, either. and hopefully, only her *precise* demographic will follow her blindly down that rovian primrose path.

[speeddeeps]

she reminds me of Mr. Chene.y

[trailerparktrash]

I'm so heartened to read this post! When I heard Palin make her promise about special needs kids, I wondered how it would go over with moms who have been dealing with those challenges for a lot longer than the four or five months she has. Especially women who don't have the "built in" help she has. Indeed, her pledge rang hollow to me too and seemed just another cynical exploitation of her children. If she wants to keep her family life private, as she says she does, she shouldn't be a hypocrite and use them for her own political gain. The baby, in my opinion, has become a stage prop that's passed around like a football. I cringe every time I see the little guy put on display.

[Yola]

Perfect! You nailed it!

[4real]

The whole point in McCane choosing Palin is to have as little criticism as possible.

If you attack McCane you are insulting a POW.

If you attack Palin you must be sexist.

A weak ticket trying to hide behind touchy topics.

[XME]

No, she's not every woman. She's Dick Cheney in a skirt, and I think the women of America will figure that out before November.

[Yohomegirl]

I haven't been keeping up, are the Hillary women still vowing to vote for McCain?

[izAriver]

She's a woman?

[mommadona]

THAT'S what we need.

A Vagina Dialogue on Sarah Palin and the Republican Party.