Sex. Celebrity. Politics. With Teeth
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Sex. Celebrity. Politics. With Teeth

Sarah Palin: When Choosing A Woman Might Not Be Choosing For Women

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Sarah Palin was selected by John McCain today to be the second woman in our country's history to run for the Vice Presidency of the United States. She's going to attempt the break the glass ceiling that Geraldine Ferraro first cracked back in 1984, which is a cool thing on some level. But it does raise the question raised by the primaries already once this year — is it more important to vote for a woman, or to vote for a candidate that represents the issues of importance to women?Because — as EMILY's List's Ellen Malcolm notes — Sarah Palin is hardly the latter. She opposes reproductive choice and marriage equity. She's a member of the group "Feminists for Life," which is dedicated to eliminating reproductive choice in this country. She is a big promoter, like McCain, of so-called "consumer-driven" health care, in which the government would eliminate the tax breaks companies get for offering health insurance (and thus your company's financial incentive to pay for yours) — despite the fact that, as Gloria Steinem pointed out, women are far and way the larger users of our health care system. No one yet knows if she supports the Lilly Ledbetter pay equity bill, but she certainly hasn't spoken about it in the last year and, given that the head of her ticket opposes it, it's a fair bet to say she wouldn't fight for it. But the newspapers are all full of speculation that McCain chose her to try to win over the Clintonistas still upset about Hillary Clinton's loss — and her speech today in which she recognized the contributions of Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton despite not mentioning how politically different they are, makes it clear that it is certainly on the campaign's mind. But while getting one woman to a top position is a great symbolic victory for women, is it worth giving up other things for which we've fought really hard just to get a symbolic victory? Palin Tough Target For Obama To Hit [Politico] The Ticket: McCain Palin [Politico] McCain To Announce Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin As His Vice Presidential Pick (Updated) [Think Progress] McCain And Palin: Promoting Failed Consumer-Driven Health Care [Think Progress] Deep Thought [Cogitamus] McCain Chooses Palin as Running Mate [NY Times]