Sarah Palin, You Scare Me.....
Last Friday morning, I dropped the girls off at school, and headed to the gym for a quick work out. I belong to a very small gym, with five elliptical machines. All the machines were being used by women, including myself. We all had headphones on, and were watching the television prompt in front of us.
The breaking news came on around 9am PST. Senator McCain was about to announce his Vice President candidate. We turned towards each other, smiled, and kept the workout going. You can bet that not one of us were going to get off of our machine. Not now.
Then the name was announced. Sarah Palin. We looked at each other again, and all five of us started talking. "Have you ever heard of Sarah Palin? Do you know anything about her? Wow, McCain is picking a female." Collectively, we all shook our heads and admitted that we knew nothing about her, but wow, a BOLD move for the Republican Party. WOW.....
Not knowing one piece of information about Sarah Palin, and being a supporter of Hillary Clinton, I must admit that I was intrigued. A women? McCain picked a woman? I honestly listened with an open mind and was excited about this pick. And truth be told, I had a very good first impression of this "unknown" Governor of Alaska after the very first minute of her acceptance speech. Ms. Palin seemed like a loving mother. She appeared to be confident, a strong leader, approachable and even likable. Wow, Senator McCain seemed to be pick a polished, smart, confident, STRONG women who could hold her own on the podium. She spoke to ME, told us about how proud she was of her son joining the military, her support of unions, fighting corruption, being active in the PTA..... heck, what a breath of fresh air, in the twisted and scandalous world of politics.
All five of us on the elliptical machines turned to one another again. I wasn't the only one impressed by her speech. We were ALL surprised at this unique women who captured our attention while exercising. We wanted to know more..... who really IS this mystery women that could potentially be one heart beat away from the Presidency position?
Anxiously, I headed home to learn more on the internet. I immediately googled her name and began reading..... and then my heart sank. Literally, my heart sank.
Rarely, do I write or talk about my political views. I am a registered Democrat, but have crossed party lines and have voted for Republican candidates. Probably the best way to define myself is socially liberal, and fiscally moderate. I would consider a Republican candidate for office, assuming SHE or HE supports womens right issues, including a women's right to choose. Yes, this is one issue that can break a candidate for me. Does this mean that I am a one issue voter? No... I am passionate about the environment, heath care, the economy, education, and an administration that will continue giving a women the ability to make decisions about HER OWN reproductive rights.
So let's take a walk down Sarah Palin Lane!
- One reason (NOT THE ONLY REASON!) I supported Hillary Clinton was because of her experience! Sarah Palin has almost NO experience! Sarah Palin was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage.
- Sarah Palin has no foreign policy experience. May I ask, how does a candidate, one beat away from the Presidency position make decisions about foreign issues, when she (or he) has no experience? Flip a coin, maybe?
- This is a BIG TIME deal breaker for me! Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.
- Need I say more? Sarah Palin supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.
- Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools. I don't really know how to respond to this one... other than... HOLY SHIT! Have you heard of separation of church and state? There is a reason for this... we are a melting pot of different religions, cultures and beliefs. Go pray in church and talk about creationism in your circles.... we will respect your ability to worship and practice your religion as you see fit. Just don't force the rest of us to be subject to this nonsense! Not everyone here is Christian and... No, we can not have this "conversation" in school without bringing up God.
- Sarah Palin doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change. Really Mrs. Palin? So who do you think is ruining the environment? Is it God's will that our ice glaciers are melting?
- She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewable won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species€”she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.
- GULP! How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.
- Can anyone really argue that the polar bears be taken off the "endangered species" list? Speak to any scientist, and they will tell you that the polar bears are decreasing in population at an alarming rate! But Sarah Palin seems to think that the polar bears should be taken off this list.... Let's just be honest Sarah Palin, you wanted to change their "status" so you could drill for more oil. Hint, Hint.... the goal should not be more drilling. The goal should be finding alternative solutions to oil dependence!
- Sarah Palin believes that marriage should only be between and man and a woman. She has even said she would support an amendment to Alaskan Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Hey Sarah Palin, I would suggest you don't campaign in the Castro section of San Francisco, unless of course - you are trying to pray the gay out of this community.
- Sarah Palin supports legislation passing death penalty law I am not personally a big fan of killing another human, for any reason.
- Book Banning? Censorship? Apparently, Sarah Palin tried to ban books that were somehow morally or socially objectionable.
- Sarah Palin supports opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (to development) and believes that Alaska’s economic future depends on aggressively extracting its natural resources Again Sarah Palin... what about getting us off of oil dependence?
- Along with opposing same sex marriage, reproductive rights for women and physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients, Sarah Palin is against stem cell research.
- Those of you that "Know" me, know how I feel about guns. Yup, that is right... Sarah Palin supports Constitutional right to bear arms.
- UPDATE: 9/4/08: If you would like to see what Sarah Palin believes (and has said) on MOST issues, go here.
Senator McCain, YOU had the ability to pick a candidate with experience. You could have selected someone that could relate to "us" fiscal conservative (or moderate) voters who cares about preserving a woman's right to choose, someone with experience on foreign relations, restoring the environment and bringing our nation together in the face of war. Instead, you jumped into bed with a radical-right wing conservative.
I can't even imagine anyone who voted for Hillary Clinton would now lend her (or his) support to your campaign. After learning about your candidate of choice, I IMMEDIATELY took out the check book and sent a contribution to Barack Obama. Tomorrow, I am heading over the Silicon Valley Obama Campaign office on El Camino Real, and will plaster Obama lawn signs all over my front lawn.
Won't you join me, Silicon Valley?
Senator McCain, I am sure my one little vote here in Silicon Valley won't make a difference. The chance of you actually winning California is dismal. But maybe, just maybe.... someone in the swing states will read this post, and link over to the articles highlighted above and learn about what a foolish mistake you made. How you have blown the election by picking a candidate with so little experience and radical points of view. Female or male, you made a terrible choice, and have shown the country (and world) that you lack the skills to lead and unite us. Shame on you. Shame on the Republican Party. You could have done so much better....
Would I like to see a woman in the White House? You bet! Would I like my daughters have a women lead this country? Absolutely! Do I like strong, competent, SMART female leaders? No doubt about it... It would be dreamy! But it needs to be the RIGHT woman... and you have failed miserably by picking Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin. You SCARE ME! You scare me because you sound smart and approachable. You have that "it factor" that makes you likable. You seem polished and sound so damn confident. You certainly gave a great speech on Friday (hey, I give credit, where credit is due). It's just that one speech is as far as I am going to go. It is the substance behind the speech that matters... I know that I live in this little "bubble" called Silicon Valley. Most of us here support democratic candidates, so I know my point of view may not reflect most of the country. And I guess that is what scares me the most.
Jill Asher is the Co-Founder of Silicon Valley Moms Blog. She is now a proud, completely out-there supporter of Barack Obama. She will be campaigning her tush off over the next few months to make sure John McCain and Sarah Palin get no where near the White House. Ever!
UPDATE: Sites that have linked to this post
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