I had an unusual seat for the Palin-Biden debate last week. Like Arianna Huffington, I was surrounded by female titans of industry, all of whom were gathered for a conference of Most Powerful Women organized by Fortune magazine. So my fellow watchers were leaders from Wall Street, insurance, design, Silicon Valley, aerospace--a truly impressive crowd. Only, Arianna and I had different listening experiences. Whereas she reported that the women around her were clapping and guffawing in a liberal-leaning kind of way, I must have chosen the conservative side of the room. My chunk of the audience was dead silent when Palin contorted sentences and cheered when she winked at the camera. Such was these women's sympathy for Palin that, when the governor strode onto the stage at the beginning of the debate, a woman sitting next to me, who had identified herself as a staunch Republican, leaned over to a friend and said, "I really feel for her."
Why was this woman "feeling for" Palin, I wondered? Was she identifying with Palin's underdog status, a place women in business know well? Or was she projecting back to a time when she herself might have had to best a man--a very experienced man at that--in public. These are scenarios any working woman is all too familiar with.
Or maybe she was feeling for the fact that Palin, after hitting her high note during the Republican Convention, was now having to rehabilitate her image after bumbling her way through a week's worth of interviews with Katie (Mad Dog!) Couric. Everyone's had a bad week at work like that.
Whatever her specific reason, this woman was saying: Been there, done that, and we're rootin' for ya Sarah! And I get what she means. Sexism still exists. It's alive and well even in women-centric industries like fashion, beauty, and publishing. In one way or another, we're all in the bunker with Sarah Palin. But here's my question: Is that enough to justify giving her thin resume a pass? For a job that puts her in line to become the leader of the free world? Plenty of us have experienced that moment when the job of your dreams seems to drop into your lap--but just too early in your career, when you know you're not really ready, not really qualified. When you just have to say, thanks but no thanks.
As a women's magazine journalist, and now Editor of More Magazine I've spent my entire career championing, celebrating, highlighting, supporting, and raising money for any and all women trying to shatter the glass ceiling. What surprises me, however, is how the passion for shards has gotten even smart women thinking with their hearts instead of their heads. First older women castigated younger women for being infidels if they didn't support Hillary Clinton. Now another group of women wants us to ignore Palin's flyweight credentials for a heavyweight job. My question is: Would any of these corporate success stories hire a similarly thin-resumed job candidate (male or female) to be their number two? To run their multi-billion dollar banking division? To launch their satellite into space? We've all interviewed the candidates who've been pushed too rapidly up the ladder, who can talk the talk but can't really walk the walk. They aren't yet equipped for success in the job that we have to fill. And if we're smart, we say to those underqualified up-and-comers, thanks, but no thanks. For now.
Amy Palmer: PowerwomenTV: An Online Series About Women in Business!
My quest to uncover the stories of women on Wall Street led me to amazing stories of women who were breaking the glass ceiling, forging new paths, and living their lives on their own terms.
Patricia Handschiegel: New Power Girls: 20 Women Founders To Watch, Part II
Part substance, part style, and a hundred percent ambition, Power Girls are a new breed of business women and the evolution of hundreds of thousands of women before them.
Let's see. Palin can't complete a thought or a sentence. When she doesn't know something she chops water rather than confess to her unpreparedness. Her cronyism, expense account reporting and abuse of power are all suspect. She poses as supermom but keeps are young children out of school to employ as props.
I don't give this candidate a high rating for potential--now or in the future.
The one thing Clinton and Palin have in common is that they're both women. Isn't it possible that they're both being judged by a different set of rules than male candidates are judged by?
I'm a woman. I'll answer that. Because she has boobies like them & they share the same kind of plumbing. That's all!!!
I am a woman, and I would never vote for Palin. Her rabid right viewpoint is diametrically opposed to furthering women's causes.
Men AND women....yes, women....are guilty of it.
The PUMAS are guilty of it. The women who support Palin just because she's a woman are guilty of it.
I've been lucky to work around some truly remarkable women in my lifetime and Sarah Palin doesn't hold a candle to any of them.
When I look at Ms. Palin I see a woman who still believes she's running for class president. I see a woman who wants to win the beauty pageant at any cost. What I don't see is a fully matured woman with a genuine sense of self and a loving spirit.
I expect a lot from leadership. No, they don't have to have "executive experience" such as hold the office of governor. They do have to be able to prove they understand foreign policy, the complex relationships in the middle east, south asia, africa and europe. They need to have a demonstrated grasp of the economy and again, its complexities. Having a middle class experience or being Joe 6pack is not enough for me. I want to have someone who can inspire cooperation, participation, vision and guide this country into the direction it needs to be a strong and thriving country.
Ms. Palin is an opportunist. I am sadly appalled she chose to be on the Republican ticket. If she honestly considered her qualifications or had concern for the direction of this country, she would see her glaring limitations. Watching her attacks of Senator Obama, it is extremely clear to me that she is not someone who will bring this country together but will work expertly to divide. She does not represent me in any way.
But Palin?
All I can say, women, is as a man I would not want Andrew Dice Clay as the Vice President.
Competence at slinging cutting insults is neither a good character reference nor a sign of leadership capabilities.
I'm not a Palin fan, but neither am I an Obama fan. If anyone in this election is at all qualified for this race, its McCain and Biden - Palin has only been Governor of a small town (at least she was elected) and Obama has hardly served one term as Senator...and was never elected for that position.
If you want to talk about qualifications and resumes, then be consistent - Obama is just as unqualified, if not more so. Why the "more so"? He's vying for the number one position of your banking firm - a job that makes the vast majority of major decisions in that corporation. The VP position is NOT that rigorous a position, in that it does not make a lot of the decisions in the organization of our political offices.
Palin wasn't chosen as VP for her rigorous knowledge of politics - she was chosen as a figurehead to spearhead McCain's campaign and give someone for women to rally behind. It was a very shrewd and political move - even though it is not the best. But since when did politicians choose best over shrewd and political? Isn't that why Hillary Clinton is no longer in the
The fact that you can even compare the two shows that you really don't have the brains to vote.
Is it running a campaign, appearing on the ballot, being voted in by the constituents in his district, that's how he did it. If this is not how he did it then how did he become a Senator representing Chicago? How did he assume his role in the Senate? I'm at a loss. Clue me in!!
The seat was handed to him on a silver platter.
However, in the present case there is a real issue. In the NOW video which is one of few we can trust, see
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/434/video-webex.html,
it appears that Sarah Palin believes that Alaska owns the natural resources in that state. Didn't the USA buy Alaska from Russia? Not to quibble about all of US history, I checked the US lands map, see
http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/pdf/fedlands/ak.pdf
and this seems to show that much of the land in Alaska is federal land of one sort or another. This is especially the case for the North Slope lands.
So in the NOW video where it is shown as a great and popular thing that Palin raised taxes on big oil, surely this is good politics, but does it really amount to leadership?
The word might better be opportunism. She saw corruption which was operating to limit taxes on oil and moved in like Robin Hood. She raised taxes on oil company profits, which effectively means she taxed a federal resources. So Alaskans get an even bigger check and continue to pay no income taxes.
NOW says she is wildly popular. So is Hugo Chavez.
It's an amazing and frightening thing to watch, considering the stakes are so high.
now is not the time to "make a statement" about sexism. Its time to do whats best for AMERICA.
What do you mean" make a statement about sexism"? They are practicing sexism.