Musings on the Palin Pick

Over the past few days, I have posted some links to discussions about Sarah Palin. I have shared my own personal anecdote about the time leading up to McCain’s announcement. And I have discussed Palin with numerous people, never missing an opportunity to sing her praises. That said, it is time to address some of the negative aspects of the press coverage of and general reaction to her selection.

1) Sexism – I hate to play the sexism card so early in the game, but I speak as I find. Much has been made of the sexism directed at Hillary Clinton, both from the media and from the Obama campaign. For awhile, I mostly dismissed these charges. Some of them just seemed a bit forced. When Obama pulled out her chair for her at a debate, this was declared a sexist act. I don’t buy that. But as the campaign wore on, examples of sexism became more clear. I have to admit I was a little surprised by Hillary’s treatment. If a woman of Hillary’s national profile was subject to sexist comments (for example, mocking her tears), what chance does another woman have? But the Palin pregnancy rumors are particularly offensive as they involve not only Palin herself, but her innocent teenage daughter. I will not even dignify this rumor with a recounting and debunking of this ridiculous tale, but suffice to say it is appalling. And let’s just say for the sake of argument that it is true, ignoring the implausibility of the most prominent woman in the state being able to fake both a pregnancy and a birth, but how would that make Palin a villain? I’m just missing what would be so awful about this non-issue scandal, even if it WERE true.

The left should take a long, hard look at how they handle this. It remains to be seen how independent or Democratic-leaning women will react to Palin on the ticket. But the left should tread carefully with regard to her pregnancy. Imagine an undecided “soccer mom” who voted for Hillary in the primary, perhaps already sensitiive over Hillary’s treatment. She does not like McCain or Obama, but then sees people on the left blowing up pictures of Palin’s daughter and pointing to her stomach and asserting that she is pregnant. This woman imagines her teenage daughter being treated this way. It may not push her to McCain, but it certainly won’t push her toward Obama. It could push her to not vote out of disgust and OBAMA NEEDS THOSE HILLARY SUPPORTERS.

“But, but, but… Sarah Palin would not have been picked if she were not a WOMAN!” I beg you, Obama supporters. PLEASE don’t go there.

2) Experience – It is fair to say that Palin lacks the long-term Washington experience of McCain or Biden, but honestly, look at her experience as opposed to Obama’s experience. At best, they are comparable, and at worst (for Obama) her qualifications are clearly superior as her experience is actually EXECUTIVE level experience. He is a legislator and a community organizer. What does that even mean? More importantly, what is it that makes someone qualified to be President? Is being a good speaker what makes someone qualified? To paraphrase, Andrew Sullivan asks how Palin would have stacked up against a powerful political campaign machine (meaning, the Clintons) had she run for president. The answer: we don’t know because Palin did not have the ARROGANCE to run for president! She is running for VICE-PRESIDENT. Obama, with qualifications that are no greater than Palin’s, aspires to be President. It has actually been suggested that Palin should agree to step down should something happen to McCain, and pass off the presidency to someone more qualified. I swear, I almost had an aneurysm when I read that. Should Obama agree to step down if he is elected, because Joe Biden is vastly more experienced than he is (plagiarism notwithstanding?) I have never in my life seen anything like that even suggested.

3) Altering the state of the race - This is key. I think the Obama camp was probably relying on a lot of Republicans either 1) staying home because they disliked McCain or 2) Voting for him, but not donating money or devoting time to campaigning or volunteering. Palin’s selection has energized the base. These are not converts in the traditional sense. They were not going to vote for Obama. To be honest, in terms of my vote, McCain picking Palin has only spared my liver the excessive amount of gin it would have required to get me to the polls on Election Day. But, in terms of advocacy and volunteering, it has inspired me to actively take part in his campaign. I can’t wait to figure out how I can become involved in promoting this ticket. I disagree with John McCain on many issues, but my opinion of his judgment has increased dramatically. I am hoping that he comes to her defense against this personal slander, as he remembers how he was slandered during his 2000 presidential run.

4) Troopergate - Last and probably least, the Troopergate scandal. As non-issues go, this pretty much takes the cake. I'm so sick of reading comments like "OMGZZZ, Sarah Palin is under investigation for abuse of power! The McCain campaign, like, TOTALLY didn't even vet her."
The problem with this argument is that *I* knew about Troopergate long before McCain picked her. How? Did I fly to Anchorage or Juneau and comb the Alaska archives? Did I interview Palin's close associates? Did I hack government files? No, I went to Google and did a Google News search for "Sarah Palin" and lo, look what I saw: Troopergate. Do people REALLY think that the McCain operatives who successfully torpedoed Obama's convention bounce could not manage to Google News search his running mate? This is the kind of ignorance we are up against, and it ain't pretty.

I guess I shouldn’t worry too much. People will know what to make of Palin as the campaign goes on, and I know the response will be positive. I guess the mainstream media does not appreciate being played for fools, as they were by the McCain campaign who had us ALL believing the choice would be a yawn-inducing Pawlenty, Romney, Lieberman or Ridge. I’m excited to watch this play out. And I can’t wait for the Palin/Biden debate!!!