Say it Ain't So, Joe!

What was your favorite "folksy" charmer of the debate last night? Hard to choose, right? Seems Palin managed to appease the base, but Independents? Not so much, polls show. Geeze. Apparently their expectations weren't so low that she exceeded them, or maybe their expectations were quite low and they watched the debate not quite drunk enough to imagine that she might possibly have exceeded them. Exceeded what, exactly? So she didn't fall on her face. So she managed to evade every single question asked of her.  What a strong woman to blow kisses and smile and sneer AND stay standing all at once. What a politico to evade so masterfully. And what about that, goshdarnit? Isn't Palin such a suave mistress of evasion that it might seem, in fact, that SHE is the one most prepared to carry on Washington's "elite" ways? 

Read something funnier: Palin poems. 

Now We're Getting Somewhere

The RIGHT calls for Palin to step down:

Responding to interviews like this one with Katie Couric, prominent conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, a big Palin supporter when McCain first announced his VP nomination, now says Palin is "out of her league" and should step down. READ this column.

And for a broader look at other conservatives raising serious questions about Palin: read this.

I am Alaska, Alaska is Russia, Together we are airspace!

She might as well have said that. In an interview with the none-too-aggressive Katie Couric, (read highlights in this NY Times article) Palin floundered when asked to explain her previous claim that Alaska's proximity to Russia qualified as foreign affairs experience. That she wasn't prepared for the question  is a bit surprising, given that she's been widely ridiculed for the comment (by none more expertly than Tina Fey, in the SNL skit I linked to on the September 22 post: "I can see Russia from my haaoouse." ) I mean, I thought that was the idea of cramming her with soundbytes in the days (weeks?) when she was sequestered from talking to the press: if she wasn't particularly intelligent on matters of foreign affairs, she was rumored to be pretty good on the rote memorization front. 

The question grows more obvious, and more urgent: what will it take to convince voters who are drawn to Palin for her charisma, her womanhood, her motherhood, her Christian-hood, that she is, quite simply, not qualified to be vice-president? Will Biden, in their debate, come armed with quotes like: "It is from Alaska that we send those out (what "those" are she never explained) to make sure an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to - to our state."  Or will the dems continue to buy into the notion that calling Palin out for her (not-even) bluffs will make them seem sexist and elitist? 

Maybe they'll leave it to the press. In this case, it clearly doesn't take a hard-hitting interview to confound this candidate. Palin's words come out, according to the Times reporter (a far-reaching simile, but hey), "like an outboard motor loosened from the stern." Her interviews should speak for themselves, right? The only problem with this assumption is that I can't help but think about how our current president talks, and the fact that his talking that way made a whole lot of people like him a whole lot more than if he'd talked like a guy who went to Yale. Those same people liked the fact that he was a bad student at Yale. They might even have liked his DUI charges. These are also the same people who must not have cared about Dan Quayle's obviously pitiful IQ. 

Oh right - hadn't you just managed to forget about Dan Quayle? 

TAKE THIS PBS POLL - THEN LAUGH.

PBS is running a (suspect and strange, if you ask me) poll: Do you think SP is qualified to serve as vice-president of the United States? 

What does this mean, exactly? And what "news" person decided to run this as a poll's single question? What do they mean by "qualified"? As in: Is she a U.S. citizen of a certain age?... or: did she or did she not say, two weeks before she was nominated, "What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" I am the last person who wants to defend Ms. Palin, BUT - would this question be asked of a man in this position? Would it? 

That said, many people (and their special needs kids who SP will most surely send her blessings to if elected) seem to be taking this poll, and many others (who aren't convinced about the blessings) are emailing it around, and screaming about the fact that as of now, YES is in the lead. Clearly it's getting a lot of attention. And we should try to turn it around, is my feeling, even if we don't know what it means. SO: here is the poll. If nothing else, take it to get the numbers straightened out.

And after you've done that, have a good laugh. If you haven't already seen it, last weekend's Saturday Night Live skit showcasing Tina Fey as Sarah Palin should not be missed.

OHIO - "Clinton ignores Palin" - ?

An article in yesterday's Washington Post describes a rally Hilary Clinton held there for Obama, and her almost utter avoidance of the Palin issue. We've heard the reason before: any negative attention focused on Palin is attention off Obama. Okay. Hm. So the idea is to ignore her in the hopes that she - and the excitation she's caused - will go away? Why not take care of misperceptions now, not with sensational attacks but a rational laying out of her record? It would only take a few facts to make clear that Palin is not a friend to women's rights. If Hilary Clinton doesn't want to be the one to do it for her own political (ego-maniacal) reasons, someone else should. Ohio is key. I tried finding contact info for some kind of group there, women for Hilary or somesuch, who might be able to work on this. Put together a rally like the one in Alaska (see yesterday's post). Anyone with ideas about this, I'd love to hear them.

FOCUS: Alaska Rally Against Palin

Here's more coverage (including great photos) of that Alaska rally I mentioned in my last post. And what seems like an excellent site, generally, for those wanting a deeper understanding of Alaskan politics. SO the question is: how to get similar rallies organized in critical states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, etc. Ideas? What would it take? Know organizers in these places?

Why I, a non-blogger, am blogging

Finally, finally, the Obama camp has come up and out with a decent ad responding to the GOP's campaign of lies, misinformation, willful ignorance, etc. (See “Honor” to view the ad.)  Why it took nearly two weeks after the blistering RNC for the dems to find the balls to defend themselves, I don't know. Why their first attempt to "sharpen" their tone involved a bizarrely junior-high-ish heckling of McCain for his lack of email prowess, I don't know. People point to Obama's "politics of hope." Oh! Hope. Since when was hope equivalent to playing dead? If such a thing as "politics. of. hope" (hear the dissonance?) is possible and/or wise in the pursuit of the U.S. presidency, why does defending oneself automatically count a person out? Why does telling the truth about your opponents' records qualify as an attack?  

Even more infuriating was - is - the utter lack of response to the Sarah Palin hulabaloo. As a former Palin campaign manager put it so delicately in this Sunday NY Times article, "I'm still proud of Sarah, but she scares the bejeebers out of me." I think that's a perfect word to describe the itchy, confused, terrible terrorizing terror many of us felt watching Palin take the stage at the convention and which has continued to terrorize us ever since. Here is a woman, very much a woman, a devoted mother, a loving wife, a successful politician, a woman who wants - and seems to have - it all. She shoots a moose, then shows her daughter how to dress it. She foregoes a chef at the governor's mansion so she can cook the family's meals herself, but knows how to say, "Mommy's got a press conference now." She appears to be everything feminists -moderate feminists, anyway - fought to make possible. And yet she has done her best - and promises, if elected V.P, to continue doing her best - to undo women's rights. Freedom of choice. Access to sex education and information. The right - which Palin seems to consider a privilege - to expect the police to foot the bill for your "rape-kit" (under Palin's mayoral watch, Wasilla women reporting they were raped had to pay for their own forensics kit - read more  here). Are we to assume, then, that if Palin has her way as V.P, a woman impregnated during a rape would have to pay for her rape-kit and then have the baby?

Palin is a woman, but she is not for women.

But enough has been said about this. (See, for example, the WomenAgainstSarahPalin blog - or this smart, provocative post on Jezebel which calls out much of the anti-Palin verbiage for its own brand of sexism.) Much of the commentary has been spot-on and far more articulate than my own, some of it has been just as offensive as Palin herself, and most of it has taken the form of benign sisterly venting. Reporters and amateur investigators have already done an excellent job of collecting her abysmal record and investigating her governing style ("vendetta" says it all), and I will continue to add links to such information. 

Here, I hope (there's that word again, so wishy-washy!) - here I intend not to vent so much as to brainstorm - with you, hopefully, please don't let me storm alone - practical strategies for making sure the truth about Sarah Palin reaches two critical groups: women who supported Hilary Clinton and are now considering voting for McCain because of Palin's presence on the ticket; and independent or republican women who've been leaning toward Obama but are now considering voting for McCain because...yada yada Palin. 

Are you one of these women? Do you know any of these women? Might you know someone who does? What would they need to hear - what facts, what stories, what aspects of her record - to understand that Palin may not in fact be on their side?

What would they need to hear to understand that Palin's glass ceiling is nobody's but her own?  

I know some people will respond: but the more time we spend fighting against Palin, we're not fighting for Obama! (There's that p.o.h. again). Or: but this is a presidential race - it's about candidate #1 on the ticket - stop it with the Palin nonsense. Both these perspectives are right, as far as they are right. But beyond where they are right, and there is a beyond, there are a certain number of people who seem to be stuck in a Palin-scented-cloud (she's a breath of fresh air, they cry! she's one of us, they cry! she loves children with special needs! (See more on the special needs issue - and record - here.) And as we've seen in the past two elections, a certain number is more than enough.

I am not a political scientist. I'm not even one of those measly organizers who must sit on their asses all day playing Tetris and drinking Dew. I just want to start a practical conversation about what can be done, in the remaining weeks, to reach the women who say they're "fired up" by Palin. I'm not talking about the religious right - I don't know how to reach them, and I don't imagine they'd listen anyway. I'm talking about women who believe in equal rights, who may even be pro-choice, who want their daughters to grow up playing soccer - or hockey! - or dancing in tutus if that's their preference, who want to see a woman president in their lifetime and believe that this - Palin - is their best shot.

On Sunday, a record 1,400 Alaskans (mostly women) turned out to rally against Palin. This is good. This is great. Can there be more rallies in critical swing states? What about a canvassing effort? Who could organize this? How can others help? What about ads telling the Palin truth? Could key celebrities make noise? What about politicians? Seems Hilary Clinton's going to be mum on this one (surprise surprise), but what about Joe Biden? The dems don't have to "attack" to point out the obvious about Palin - they just have to state the facts, and state them simply, and state them again and again. (Have you noticed how good GOP pols are at repeating themselves? As it's happening, you think it sounds dumb, but when it's over, you remember what they said, right?) If Obama's camp continues to steer clear of Palin, they not only raise questions about their ability to (respectfully! - oh hope!) send strong messages, but they fail to treat a woman - Palin, too, deserves equal rights - as they would a man.

But did I mention I'm a mother? A wife? A hard-working, ambitious woman? Please, be kind to me, and my novice blog attempt - share your ideas, spread the word. I'll continue updating with links, thoughts, maybe some pictures of me cradling my wee baby. Maybe tomorrow, or the next day, or next week - is it a deal? I'll give you the warm fuzzies if you vote fo-I mean participate, in this blog. She's real cute. Keep checking back!