I admit before yesterday I’d never even registered the name Sarah Palin, so I can’t judge how she’ll perform on the national stage. But her choice truly makes me wonder if the Republicans aren’t throwing this election, and trying to take down women to boot. Conspiracy theory, maybe, but here’s the over-caffeinated reasoning:
Whoever is the next president is going to fail in some pretty spectacular ways—through no fault of his own—thanks to W. So why not throw the election to the Democrats as a way to bring down the rock star and retake the White House in 2012? This isn’t a crazy idea; it’s been floated many times before.
With this theory, why not go for a double whammy and discredit the idea of a woman as president? The GOP has a lot to fear from strong women entering the presidential fray. The majority of women are Democrats, not Republicans. The majority lean pro-choice. With Hillary shattering the barrier of a viable female candidate, a lot more strong women will start looking to the White House to get their pant-suited butts in the Oval Office. This does not bode well for the GOP and any further ideas of a permanent Republican majority.
So in this theory, Sarah wasn’t picked to draw disgruntled Hill-raisers. She was picked to ridicule the idea of a woman leader. She’s the anti-Hillary. To note:
The idea of her as VP actually becoming POTUS is a very real likelihood. McCain is 72, already has had melanoma, and could kick it any day. The Presidency isn’t known for its stress-free environment. So voters have to consider very carefully whether Sarah Palin is a viable choice for President.
She’s attractive, particularly in a former beauty queen (look it up, she was) turned librarian sexy MILF. This gets men thinking of her attractiveness rather than her qualifications (or lack thereof) and as a general rule, men aren’t going to vote for a women they want to fuck. Neither will women vote for a woman their husbands want to fuck. Nobody thinks about sex and Hillary apart from the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Hillary’s one child is grown and an obvious success. No one questions the time the presidency would have taken away from the raising of Chelsea, and in fact her devotedness to raising Chelsea during Bill’s tenure was much praised. Sarah’s got five children, one a special-needs infant. People are going to question her fitness as a mother in being able to raise these kids well while serving as VP or President; thereby reinforcing the idea that women have to be mothers/wives first, individuals second.
I don’t see how, no matter how oratorically gifted she may be, she can go one round against Joe Biden. Unless she is the undisputed master of the 30-second sound bite (admittedly one of Biden’s greatest weaknesses), his experience and gravitas will kill her in their debates. She will seem like a foolish little girl against the esteemed Senatorial white man. That leaves an indelible image in the minds of voters that women just aren’t cut out to make it with the big boys.
With all the sexist and misogynistic background of the Democratic primary race, it’s obvious there is still a deep distrust with the idea of a woman as the President. They can use Sarah Palin to make Hillary the anomaly. The sexless bitch that is not indicative of the vast majority of women. Sarah Palin will reinforce the idea that women just aren’t cut out for the White House.
Call me crazy if you like, but I don’t put anything past the GOP. Obama will win this election but this race could set women further back, not forward. And Democrats. I’ll be happy to eat my words if it proves wrong, but this is my early reaction to this choice.
Cross-posted to the Realist Theorist.
