Thirteen Ways of Looking at Sarah Palin

Over the weekend, a reader asked me more about my reaction to the choice of Sarah Palin as the Republican nominee for vice-president. I find myself having many different reactions:


1) First, the positive: As a mother, I was moved to see a politician on a national stage at the Republican Convention holding her baby (and I also like these pictures of Palin as governor with her baby in a sling). Many women feel pressured to hide their status as parents in order to be taken seriously in the workplace, and I’m hopeful that images such as these will help normalize the idea of a woman with young children working.


2) At the same time, it hurts my head that many on the far right assert that a mother of young children should stay home unless she’s forced to work for financial reasons—but then those people seem to feel no cognitive dissonance when nominating a mother of five children, the youngest of whom has special needs, for vice-president of the United States. In Seven Myths of Working Mothers, conservative Suzanne Venker claims, "being successful in the workplace and at home simultaneously is impossible. This is not antifeminist, nor is it a matter of one’s politics. It is just a fact. No matter how much women would like to balance work and family, the endless demands of children don’t allow mothers to dedicate themselves fully to someone or something else."


Hmmm.... Which is it, people? Does this mean conservatives will stop opposing policies that would help working mothers? Or is it just that they're willing to overlook anything in a pro-life candidate?


3) Palin can deliver speeches well. I’ll definitely give her that. She gave the appearance of being poised and calm, and she didn’t hesitate to respond to people’s concerns about her candidacy.


4) But the nastiness? It was hard to stomach, even though Palin served it up with a smile. The more I think about it, the angrier I get that the Republicans mocked the idea of being a “community organizer.” Is it really so ridiculous that some people would choose to work with others in our cities who need help?


5) It seems that conservative pundits and politicians will forgive almost anything in one of their own. Teenage pregnancy? If it’s a celebrity kid, the parents are pinheads and everyone is entitled to heap scorn upon her! If it’s the kid of a conservative politician, however, the parents laudably chose life and the media should butt out! (Everyone please take a moment to watch this clip from The Daily Show about this hypocrisy.)


6) I am tired of people seeing Sarah Palin’s personal history (which is evidently not off-limits as long as the Republicans bring it up) as one big pro-life statement. Both pregnancies, Tom and I refused the screening tests for Down Syndrome because we knew we would not terminate a pregnancy for that reason—and we are both strongly pro-choice. I never got myself in a position where I had to decide whether to “choose life” as a teenager because I never got pregnant. Why does no one pat my parents on the back for that? Wouldn't most of us prefer that for our daughters? I know I would.


7) I have a hard time with Republicans such as Palin who preach personal responsibility but then would ban abortion in the case of rape. Let me get this straight: I could make all responsible choices, and have children only in the context of a loving marriage—but if I get raped, that’s too bad! Basically, that would mean any man could force me to have a child at any time. How is that pro-family?


8) Speaking of people’s personal lives, I found Hanna Rosin's article in Slate about Red State vs. Blue State marriages very interesting. Evidently, the fact that Barack Obama and I are both in stable marriages is just further proof of our membership in the Liberal Elite.


9) Conservatives have been charging that the Obama campaign attacked Sarah Palin about her personal life, when Obama actually issued a statement declaring such attacks off limits. Could we please not conflate the campaigns with the far reaches of the blogosphere? As a liberal blogger, I can assure everyone that the Obama campaign has no control over what I write.


10) The whole “small town” thing is exasperating to me. Sure, as Palin points out, small towns have good people in them--but our country is made up of small towns, suburbs, and cities. It makes me sick that the Republican politicians claim to value one over the others. I grew up in a smallish town, lived in a city, and now live in a suburb, and I can attest that there are good people all over. Some of them (gasp!) even try to organize their communities!


11) As far as I can tell from reading Pollster.com, the choice of Palin has energized the Republican base, especially women, but has done little to reach independents and conservative Democrats. It made a lot of Clinton's supporters furious; many think it’s a horribly condescending move on the part of McCain. I don't see it that way--there is absolutely no way I'd consider voting for McCain--but I’m hoping Clinton's former supporters will get fired up enough to be enthusiastic about going to the polls in November.


12) Even if I were remotely tempted to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket, I don’t think I could support a woman who was interested in banning books from the local library.


13) Finally, I would like to suggest a moratorium on using the phrase "sexy librarian" to describe Palin's appearance. Please?