Sara Palin

I'm going to jump on to the dangerous field of politics, but I'm going to first preface it with something.

I'm a rabid independent, in collage, I majored in political science and history, and worked on the Perot campaign. As such I'm a fiscal conservative, but everything else I take issue by issue and you can't peg me socially. Also, with a wife as a pastor, I will admit that a) I like strong women and b)I've seen my wife overcome a lot of sexism.

So here goes.

John McCain's choice of Sara Palin, the governor of Alaska, as his VP raises the question of what is a legitimate questioning of qualification and what is just pure sexism or other form of discrimination. Since the announcement, we've been finding out just who she is and the scandals she is involved in, which seem to be rolling out 1 to 2 a day.
I'm going to hit the headlines point by point.

1) Experience.

This is a legitimate question, with only a year and a half as governor and being mayor of a small town(Wasilla pop. 6715 from '96-'02) that isn't much executive experience compared to others candidates. To top that off, the experience hasn't been scandal free... more on that in other points.

2) She has 5 children, the youngest is 4 months old and has downs syndrome.

This is not a legitimate point of discussion, and in fact has sexist overtones. The implication from the social conservative perspective is that she should be staying at home with the children, especially the baby. Hey, what about the father staying at home? In fact, one could argue that she and her husband have lots of experience juggling things. The problem for social conservatives is that Dobson has been slamming working mothers for so long that his about face on Sara Palin is just looking like political expediency.

This is going to reignite the "mommy wars" in a way that Hillary Clinton, whose only child is long out of the house, couldn't.

3) She was a runner up for Ms. Alaska.

This again is not a legitimate issue. This plays on the dumb beauty pageant stereotype, which in itself is sexist.

4) She is a woman, and it was a tactical move by McCain to get disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters.

If it wasn't for the contentious nature of the Democratic primary, and the statement by some of the Clinton supporters that they might vote for McCain, I'd say it was an illegitimate question. But, the simple fact is that people do have prejudices which are then exploited for political gain. This is a legitimate point of discussion, but it reflects on McCain, not on Pallin. She should stand on her own merits, not her gender.

5)Troopergate.

This, as in all abuse of power accusations, are valid points of discussion, and gender doesn't come into play at all.

We don't have all the facts yet, but Pallin stands accused for abuse of power in trying to get her ex brother in law, a state trooper, fired during her sisters contentious divorce and custody battle. The Public Safety Commissioner was fired, allegedly for not firing the brother in law. There are audio tapes of Palin's assistant talking to him about it, which lends the accusation some serious credibility.

Then, to top it off, the replacement resigned in disgrace only two weeks on the job after a sexual harassment reprimand came to light(which Pallin admitted to knowing about). She then arranged a $10,000 severance package. Very suspicious.

The state legislature has contracted a private investigator to look into it so as they can recommend or reject impeachment proceedings. The report is due out October 31.

6) Her 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant.

Who are we criticizing? The daughter or the parent?

One could reference 1 Timothy 3:5 "For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?"
Titus 1:6 is similar.
But I think that is unfair, at 17, the daughter is ultimately responsible for her own actions, and that goes for the boy involved as well.

Any person in public view, and their families under go intense scrutiny, and they are still only human. While this is a good starting point for difficult discussions with our teenage daughters and sons. I personally feel that it should have no bearing on the election, but sadly I think it will.

7) The Bridge to Nowhere.

This questions her honesty, it's fair game.
Apparently, she supported the bridge before congress refused the funds, then she retroactively was always against it.

8) Any comments on her wardrobe.

This is just plain sexist. As long as she is dressing appropriately for the venue, any micro analysis of how the color of her pantsuit works with her complexion is just plain obnoxious.

9) Her religion/church.

A candidates values are legitimate, but a persons religion should prompt clarifying questions, not be an assumption of their values.
I've known many church going people of differing faiths who do not subscribe to everything their denomination or pastor teaches, Joe Biden is a pro-choice Catholic. Also, people may say one thing, but do another. I would argue that we should look at how people live their lives, not what door they go in on Sunday morning.

There are other accusations just breaking, but I'm going to give them a day or two for confirmation purposes.

Why McCain picked her is a mystery.
There are many more qualified politicians out there, even Republican women(Kay Bailey Hutchinson comes to mind.)

How this all plays out is sure to effect the election, I personally know one vote he lost already.
In some ways she does galvanize support amongst some religious conservatives, but those that don't believe in women in authority are sure to be turned off even more.

Tactically I think it was a mistake trying to target disaffected Clinton voters. Most of them have already lined up behind Obama, and the 12% left are unlikely to share Palin's ideology. I realize its shaving percentages, but the risk of loosing core Republican base is high.

Does this all reflect on McCain's judgement? You bet. Any major decision he makes is going to reflect on him for good or ill. While you could blame those responsible for vetting Palin, the McCain campaign has already admitted that he knew about the major scandals that are now unfolding.

While McCain has picked her, it remains for the Republican party to validate her status in convention this week, but from the sound of it, the party faithful will fall in line behind their candidate. To do anything else would admit that McCain made a colossal blunder, thereby damaging him.

I guess we will see how this all blows up in the following weeks of polling and finally the election.