Tuesday, September 16, 2008

supermom isn't super vp to me

i'm bound to catch grief for this post, but i'm going to go forward with it despite the criticism is to come.

now we have sarah palin on the scene. she has done well for herself and deserves respect for the things she has achieved.

however, she doesn't seem qualified for being first in line to be the president. here are my issues with her as vp candidate:
1) she went to UI. i worked for UI. it isn't a bad school, but a b.a. in journalism from UI does not set anyone up with a broad enough education to run this country.
2) she is riding the "woman card" in hopes of getting women to resonate with her. honestly, her portrayal of womanhood is not one i want to associate with. sure, she is a superwoman/mom, but that isn't what being a strong woman is about. at least it shouldn't be what being a strong woman is about.
3) she is completely anti affirmative action. i am a strong advocate of affirmative action. 'nuff said.
4) her approach to sex ed is exclusively abstinence based. i've been a STARS (students today aren't ready for sex) educator and i honestly believe that teenagers aren't mature enough to get themselves involved sexually. however, i am not naive. sex among teenagers happens and if we don't give kids the facts about protecting themselves and others we are going to have a slew of other problems on our hands.
5) she is pushing herself (or being pushed) as the first woman to be on the ticket. try 1984. how can you take that away from someone else?
6) she is advertising herself as a "regular woman", the equivalent of a "good ol' boy". call me crazy, but i don't want a regular woman (or man) running our country. i am a regular woman, but i am in no means qualified to run this country. show me how you are better than the rest of us. show me how you are more qualified than 99.99% of this nation to be in this position.

so here is my final take, she is a strong and capable woman. this does not make her qualified to run the country.

2 comments:

Holly said...

Hellooooo!!! Right on the money, baby. ;)

DougieB said...

I would have to agree with your sentiment. I've never understood that idea that the people we elect to our highest office should be 'just like us'. Hey! She has a daughter with a kid out of wedlock! She has five kids! She lies (a lot.)! She's just like us!

I don't want someone just like me. I want someone smarter than me, more thoughtful than me, more insightful than me. I think if McCain were to get elected and kick the bucket in 2010, we would be in a lot of trouble - having a president who would be the most qualified by her merits of being a mom. hrm.

But, at least she can see russia from her house. Did you see the SNL sketch from this weekend? It was brilliant... http://www.hulu.com/watch/34465/saturday-night-live-palin--hillary-open