Palin update #1

It has been brought to my attention that McCain may have picked Palin in an effort to "steal" Hilary Clinton's female supporters. The thought initially did not occur to me because I like to give women more credit than to think that they would vote for ANY woman just because she IS a woman. But, now that I have thought about it, I can see how many women would fall for that. "Oh well she is a woman, she has five children, she is a Protestant, etc etc etc, therefore she gets ME!" Really? She may get YOU, individual nameless woman, but does she get the COUNTRY, and the other nameless women and men out there? I really hope that come election day, women and men alike make their decision not based on the gender of those running for office, or their religion (Biden is a, GASP!, Catholic), or their color, or their age, as much as I poke fun at old McCain, but based on what we may hope to see from these candidates.

No one seriously believes that either McCain or Obama will be able to pull off 100% of what they promise to do if in office; but if just 10% of what they promise will be achieved, it will make a big difference in the direction this country will move in from now on. If there is only a 10% improvement in health care availability for those who need it, I will be glad to see Obama in office. If there is only a 10% improvement in education, it will be 10 much needed percentage points that will be welcomed. If our dependence on Middle Eastern oil decreases just 10%, it will be 10% of a move in the right direction.

It is sick to think that Palin is attractive only because she is female, and her appointment as the nominee for VP has revealed the Republican machination's flawed ethics. She has a newborn child with Down's syndrome, who will need constant care. When Edwards' wife developed cancer, Republicans cried out that he should retreat from the race and stay home with her. How is this any different? I'm not saying that I think this should keep her from being a candidate for VP, but it is interesting to actually see the Republican hypocrisy at work.

It is sick to think that Republicans think that a woman, any marginally, semi-qualified (though this I find debatable) woman, will convince women who wanted to vote for Hilary to actually vote for her own party's ticket, only because she is a woman. When Obama began running, Republicans cried out that blacks will vote for Obama because he is black! Well, they are doing the same thing here, if in fact that is what they are doing.

But what is most sickening is the fact that I do deep down believe that it is possible that many women will mistakingly view Palin as a beacon for feminism only because she is a woman. I think it is possible that an ill-informed woman would vote for McCain/Palin solely because half the ticket is female, ignoring that this ticket will advocate that women should NOT have the right to choose, that women should NOT be allowed to marry their lesbian partners, that women should NOT have those rights solely because they are not women acting in the way that THAT party would want them to. I want to believe that a majority of Hilary supporters will not feel this way, that they will remember WHY they wanted to vote for Hilary besides her gender, remember that she herself has asked her own supporters to give their support now to Obama, and I think that if this gender game was the reasoning behind Palin's nomination, the Republicans will be disappointed come November.

However, four years ago, I did not believe for a second, for a second! that Kerry would lose, and I appreciate and like Obama much more than Kerry. So, like I said in my previous post, this is an exciting and history-making election. In a few months, Palin and McCain, Biden and Obama, will stand trial in front of the millions of Americans who will cast their vote, and I only hope, regardless of the outcome, that these millions of Americans take at least a minute to think about WHY they are voting for their choice. I can see why some people will want to vote Republican. That is their prerogative. But I only wish that people would vote with their eyes and ears open. That women do not vote for McCain ONLY because he chose a woman, but because they truly believe that team is the better of the two options. Just as I hope that when voting for Obama, people don't vote for him and Biden ONLY because they want to see what a black man will do as president, given the chance, but because THIS black man is the better choice for president between himself and McCain.