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politics

Sarah Palin

OK, right off the bat, I don’t know much about her. I know she’s not a communist, and she’s not a fascist. She sounds like she’s a little further to the right than some other republicans, but that’s probably why she’s in that party.

So why the post? I am amazed at the level of vitriol directed at her. I cannot remember any other vice presidential candidate being on the receiving end of this kind of abuse. Seriously, she’s the VP candidate. Historically, ignoring assassinations, Watergate, a 4th term, and Cheny (ahem), the VP has had a rather small impact on the usual business of the president. Why the angst?

I have a theory, and democrats aren’t going to like it. BTW, when I refer to democrats, I am also including that much larger group of anti-republicans. I think that most of my friends are actually much more about voting against republicans than voting for any democratic platform. That’s the feeling I get anyway… My theory as to why Palin is getting so much hate is because she’s a woman. Yes, I am accusing the democrats of being sexist.

Think about it, if she were a man that held exactly the same qualifications and beliefs, (s)he would be seen as just another republican. Seriously, she’s not Pat Buchanan, she’s not David Duke. Those people are so far right that they are actually dangerous. She seems to be a pretty mainstream republican.

Here’s my theory, democrats see female republicans as traitors to the cause. Democrats feel that they, not republicans, are the party that is going to bring women into full “equality.” If, as the democratic thinking goes, she would just come to her senses, she would understand that the republican party is the party of old, rich white guys (see McCain, John). This is galling enough, but when millions of women who think like her rally around her, it takes the distaste to a whole ‘nuther level. Those people exist. You are going to have to deal with them and their beliefs, they aren’t going away.

To all of you democrats out there, it would behoove you to try to understand why people like her. Even better, it would be a good idea not to dismiss them as idiots out of hand. From my vantage point, divisive politics doesn’t just belong to the “uncool” party…

4 replies on “Sarah Palin”

Sexism may be playing a role, but how can you call her pretty moderate. This next point is just my own assumption, but I wouldn’t say spending her whole life at a pentecostal church until deciding she wanted a political career, at which point she began attending an evangelical church, is in the middle of the spectrum. Even not so extreme evangelicals support Israel to bring about judgment day, which is why the Israeli lobby is one of the most powerful in the country. These are the type of people who follow the likes of Pat Robertson, who you yourself mentioned as being dangerous. I think there is merit to criticism that her political career beyond being Mayor of Wasila has lasted a good 2 years or so, which is even shorter than Obama’s, that she is a religious extremist with extreme right views (not moderate at all like McCain), and that John McCain is old as grandfather time and she is one misstep away from the presidency. Has this been exaggerated by the fact that she is a relatively unknown younger woman, maybe. But just because criticism may have been influenced by sexism does not mean the criticism is without merit altogether.

A few corrections… I never called her “pretty moderate.” I said that she seems like a mainstream republican, or maybe to the right of that. I never mentioned Pat Robertson, but yes, he’s a wacky one. I also never said that criticism isn’t warranted. Believe me, if I start to criticize politicians, I’ll never stop… What I was primarily writing about was the level of snark involved in the criticism of her. I have no problem with the idea that she’s inexperienced, has no foreign policy ideas, and seems a little lost. That sounds like Dan Quayle to me. I don’t remember demonstrations over Qyale, and I certainly don’t remember the level of hatred and emotion over him.

As far as McCain kicking it while in office, the odds are against it. In any case, if that’s a big problem, the yelling should be at McCain. Once again, I’m not saying that Palin shouldn’t be criticized, I’m just surprised at the venom involved. I still think that the dems are stinging at the thought that people might like (for whatever reason) a woman that isn’t a democrat.

Isaac

I believe that the problem stems not from sexism, but the fact that she would be “one misstep from the presidency”. While I am far from thinking that Barack Obama is the most experienced person to ever run for president, at least if some mishap did befall him, Joe Biden’s historical viewpoint has been fairly close to Obama’s, more or less.

I disagree with regards to McCain in terms of both longevity and politics. Take a good look at Bill Clinton or Bush the Younger after 8 years of a difficult presidency. If McCain wins and especially if he is re-elected in 2012, I believe that the chances of him making it through a full 8 years at his age are slimmer than you think. If McCain kicks, Palin will become a president much more skewed towards the right than McCain was.

I, myself, am not a “moderate Republican” per se but if I was, and I voted for McCain and got Palin, I would feel less than ecstatic.

Yeah, she is further to the right than McCain, and she has some issues. I think I’ll have to do another post about her because no one seems to get that my observation was about the hatred of the woman herself. There are plenty of things not to like about her, but that really isn’t any different than a lot of other VP candidates in the past.

If Reagan could make it through 8 years, so can McCain. Keep in mind that the POTUS literally has the best medical care in the world. I still put the odds of something bad happening to him at a very low level. They are significantly non-zero, but still low.

Isaac

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