Palin Accuses Obama of Being a Faux Feminist
Last week, Governor Palin defined Americanism. This week, she teaches us about feminism.
On the campaign trail in Nevada, Governor Palin avoided talking about actual issues and instead attacked Obama for not choosing Senator Clinton as his running-mate. She determined that somehow this decision was an “anti-feminist” one, claiming that “he couldn’t bring himself to choose a woman who got 18 million votes in the primaries.” Ms. Palin attempted to assume the role of the feminist candidate, praising women in politics and vowing to break the proverbial glass ceiling.
Ah, where to begin? Well first of all, Obama not choosing Hillary is old news. I know that Ms. Palin is new to this race, and to presidential politics in general, but resuscitating a politically dead issue seems to be nothing more than a space-filler in the absence of a sound economic policy or any real campaign platform.
Second, I’m not quite sure what Palin thinks feminist ideals entail, but simply talking about women in politics and criticizing a candidate for not choosing a woman as his vice presidential nominee doesn’t quite cut it. Things like equal pay for equal work matter to women. But her running-mate publicly opposed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, voted against it, and later said that women need more “education and training,” so she couldn’t cite that as an example. The right to choose is usually a target issue of feminist organizations, but Palin’s decidedly pro-life-regardless-of-the-situation stance on the issue wouldn’t help her there. And her running-mate’s disturbing assertion that women abuse the health of the mother “excuse” probably warrants Palin’s reluctance to address the issue on the trail.
At one point she again criticized Obama, saying that “Our opponents think they have the women’s vote all locked up, which is a little presumptuous since only our side has a woman on the ticket.” As a former Hillary supporter with a strong admiration for women in politics, I must say that the assumption that “any woman will do” is insulting. Those of us who supported Hillary did so not because she was a woman – we did so because she was a strong proponent of the issues that mattered to women - she just also happened to be a woman.
Yes, the Republicans have a woman on the ticket. They have a woman who as mayor billed sexual assault victims and their insurance companies for rape kits; a woman who opposes the right to choose, even in cases of rape and incest; a woman who is running on a ticket that has publicly opposed equal pay for equal work as well as the Violence Against Women Act. So I guess when you and your running-mate have a decidedly anti-woman record, your only “feminist” qualities are 1.) the fact that you are a woman; and 2.) your mindless rant about other women in politics.
Here’s an idea: Stop talking about feminism, start talking about the economy.
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