Governor Sarah Who?

I got up this morning hoping to talk about the success of the Democratic National Convention. Let’s face it, it was one of the most moving experiences this nation has had in sometime and it was no doubt historical.

With anticipation I try to focus after a quick cup of coffee. To my surprise there is nothing about Obama’s stellar speech. Instead the entire media is focused on Senator John McCain. As you all know by now, Senator McCain has chosen a woman to be his Vice President. This woman is Mrs. Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska.

Most of us do not know much about her, but one thing we did learn from her speech was that, in her view, she single handedly stopped that bridge to nowhere, you know the one that was bringing $223 million to the State thanks to Alaska Senator Ted Steven’s earmark. Personally I was a bit surprised, I have written about this alleged bridge and have never once come across her name.

All things considered though, she seems nice enough and she may even know a thing or two about the economy. However, I am a bit skeptical about this as well because being governor of 670,000 is not nearly as hard as being a Borough President in New York City. As for her mayoral stint, I myself manage more than 9,000 people just walking through Times Square in the afternoon. Talk about no experience. I wonder if she has a passport.

More to the point, I can’t believe that someone who has basically ignored women’s rights for the last twenty some odd years, thinks for one minute that we women are going to fall for this blatant and purely political maneuver.

McCain has consistently voted against any legislation to help women gain equality. His failure to vote for the Equal Pay Bill for women in April of this year is just one of many examples. The Senator said, “women need education and training” not equal pay. Actually I think it is men who need education and training because for some odd reason they think giving women seventy cents equals one dollar.

The whole process is absolutely and unequivocally insulting. It is completely offensive for Senator McCain to think that women are shallow enough to vote for or support Hillary Clinton just because she is a woman. For spite we should all buy Obama shirts and hats and line up early to cast our vote for the Democratic ticket.

Then, as if one insult was not enough, in her speech Mrs. Palin acted as if she was in this Presidential race since January 2007 and even tries to compare herself to Hillary Clinton. Listen, I am one woman who is particularly hard on Hillary Clinton, but by no means would I have the gall to compare myself to her, her accomplishments or to all her hard work in this Presidential campaign.

Although Mrs. Palin may think being Vice President is going to mean something in a McCain campaign, she is dead wrong. Anyone could see that John McCain was noticeably uncomfortable standing next to her while she spent a half hour introducing herself and her five children to all the people who have no idea who she is or what on earth she has done. And how could you miss McCain’s eyes, which were saying, “Ok that’s enough about you. Just tell the nice GOP that you are pro-life and get off the stage. Don’t you know this is my show? You my dear are just a prop.” With a quick peck on the cheek and a thank you he quickly ushered her stage right.

So, you women out there who are still mad about Hillary, please for the love of us all wake up and realize that Mrs. Sarah Palin is no Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

A vote for her and John McCain will get you nothing less than the same old. You will continue to live in a flailing economy, continue to see the backlash of a disastrous foreign policy and continue to live with an abysmal health care system.

More importantly, Mrs. Palin together with Mr. McCain, are two candidates who will have no qualms about denying women their rights. And to make matters worse, neither of them will have any qualms about taking more of those rights away.