Sarah Palin

My friend Taryn summed it up thus:

Wow. I don't even know where to begin.. I guess I will start from the moment of desperation that McCain made the surprise announcement that Sarah Palin would be his running mate. My immediate thought was, well sure he wants a woman to shake up the ticket and possibly attract some of those so-called PUMAS that seem to be more of a Republican troll phenomenon, than an actual movement. But really isn't the Republican party filled with many more qualified women?

As a result, it was obvious to me that he was picking her as the token running mate, who would be appear to be an asset on the campaign trail, but not challenge his leadership or burden his administration with policy ideas, powerful friends, and a formidable reputation. All of those bothersome bits that a pick like Condoleeza Rice, Liddy Dole, Carly Fiorina, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Christine Todd Whitman would have brought to the table. He doesn't want to have to govern with a woman as a partner, he wants to use a woman in the campaign.

Therefore, in his fit of pique and desperation to focus the post Democratic Convention news cycle/lovefest back to his campaign, he obviously didn't vet his choice as carefully as he should have. He has already lied about the vetting process in saying that the FBI had looked into her, when in fact they had not. Not really a big deal, but I think it speaks volumes about his campaign's desperate quest to cover up the mess and vet his pick now. This also speaks volumes about his judgment and temperment, and gives us a window into what we can expect from a McCain presidency. Seeing as how it is probable that three Supreme Court Justices may be picked during his administration, this should give pause to both liberals and conservatives: This was his first political appointment and he failed quite spectacularly!

As soon as I heard her first speech, I realized he had thrown this woman to the wolves, that she was completely unprepared for the world that she was being thrust into, and that it was only a matter of time before she said something naive and unsophisticated, that her place on the ticket would become a laughingstock. I did not think she would be inadvertently throwing her own family under the bus though.

In efforts to rebut the rumors circulating that her youngest son was actually her grandson, Palin responded by answering a question that WASN'T EVEN ASKED, and ended up committing the worst act of parental humiliation to ever be aimed at a teenager. She, without prompting, dropped the bombshell that her unmarried underage daughter Bristol was five months pregnant. I don't understand how that answers the first question (perhaps providing a record of the birth at the hospital would have been a better idea) or how it even puts those rumors to rest. What it does is entirely derail the campaign with a plot worthy of a daytime soap.

This is why the McCain campaign is now tightly restricting access to Palin. She will not be making any appearances except under the tightest controlled conditions. You will not see reporters given the opportunity to interview her, unless they are deemed to be "friendly" and have their questions vetted in advance.

While I agree that Bristol herself should not be made an issue in this campaign, the tangential issues are important to discuss Sarah Palin is on the extreme fringes of the anti-choice movement, not even supporting abortion rights in cases of rape, incest, or where the mother's life is in danger, meaning she wants to take away the choices that other women may want to make when confronted with an unwanted, coerced, or dangerous pregnancy. Sarah Palin is a proponent of abstinence only sex education despite the fact she knows it is not a viable solution to teen pregnancy, because, as the campaign says "Life Happens." Sarah Palin has voted to reduce funding for programs to provide services to unwed teenaged mothers. Which is a completely irresponsible, if not cruel position to take, given her support of abstinence-only education. This reinforces Barack Obama's point about the Republican's ownership society: You find yourself pregnant, underaged, unmarried, well you're having that baby and YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN.

Her support for these political positions need to be made an issue in this campaign, and need to be hammered hard in addition to all of the other baggage she brings to the ticket: Troopergate, Librariangate, and all of her other recorded abuses of executive power; her support for a secessionist party; her connections to Ted Stevens and her role in running a 527 fund for his benefit; her record on earmarks and wasteful spending, including the "Bridge to Nowhere" debacle.

I look forward to seeing how this plays out.