Earlier this afternoon, McCain surrogate Carly Fiorina did a brief sit down with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, in which the two discussed the coverage of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Fiorina was upset at what she termed "sexist characterizations" of Palin, saying: "What we are saying to the media of the world is that the Democratic party stood by while Hillary Clinton was subjected to incredible sexism in the media. The Republican party is not going to stand by."
But Fiorina is losing her bearings! As a matter of fact, the "Democratic Party" did no such thing. Here's DNC chairman Howard Dean, offering up a commentary on sexism to George Stephanopoulos that he repeatedly recited throughout the primary season:
DEAN: There has been an enormous amount of sexism in this campaign on the part of the media, including the mainstream media. We'll leave present company excepted, because I think that's true. But there have been major networks that have featured numerous outrageous comments that if the words were reversed and they were about race, the people would have been fired.
So that's a big issue. And there are a lot of women in this country who -- there's two issues here. One is one candidate is ahead and one is not. That happens all the time in primaries, and you get over that. What you don't get over is deep wounds that have been inflicted on somebody because they happen to be a woman running for president of the United States.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Does Barack Obama get over it by choosing Sen. Clinton as a running mate?
DEAN: We don't know. But I do believe that the issue of sexism in this country has to be addressed.
Frankly, I'm a little bit concerned about Fiorina's grasp of sexism in society, given this remark: "Whether they agree with Sarah Palin or not, I think women are highly sensitized now to sexism."
Highly sensitized now? If Fiorina had actually been paying attention to Hillary Clinton's campaign, she'd know that women have been highly sensitized to sexism for at least eighty-eight years. Before, even.
[WATCH.]
FIORINA: Well, there are sexist characterizations of Sarah Palin going on. For example, she has been called the cheerleader from the west. For example, people have questioned whether she's a good mother because she also has a career and aspirations in addition to a family.
MITCHELL: Those criticisms or questions haven't been raised by the Obama campaign. They have been absolutely strict about talking not about her --
FIORINA: I'm not accusing the Obama campaign in that case. What we are saying to the media of the world is that the Democratic party stood by while Hillary Clinton was subjected to incredible sexism in the media. The Republican party is not going to stand by. I don't believe millions of American women are going to stand by. Whether they agree with Sarah Palin or not, I think women are highly sensitized now to sexism. And when someone of accomplishment is described more as a show horse than a work horse, women recognize that for what it is. It's sexism.