Rushing Friday morning to catch a plane, I’m not sure that the article I churned out in five minutes adequately expressed my revulsion towards the momentous event of Sarah Palin’s selection as John McCain’s choice to be one heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world, although perhaps that was because that, at that point, I knew so little about her (albeit, enough so I was well aware that there was a problem).
Anyway, my problem with Ms. Palin is not that McCain is playing the "gender card" (which would seem irresistible), but that's he's playing it with a deuce.
Somewhere in their bunker, McCain and his advisors are snickering about pulling a fast one, reigniting some of the gender fires that the Democrats had finally thought they had doused. Instead, they have insulted the intelligence of the American public and, particularly, American women.
The Hillary grievance, even if exaggerated by the media, has, at its roots, a real justification. Women have had to climb the ladder to the glass ceiling twice as well to go half as far, while wearing high heals and having some drunken gawker like Chris Matthews looking up their skirt while taking pictures with his cell phone.
In the past, sometimes historic appointments of women with somewhat thinner credential than their male competitors (think Sandra Day O’Connor) were justified by the fact that these women had not achieved the high positions their talents should have propelled them to, because of structural discrimination.
Yet, here came Hillary Clinton, powerhouse attorney, scholar, White House insider with experience in both domestic and foreign policy (at the center of significant achievements in both Ireland and the Balkans) and US Senator; a policy wonk with an intellectual grasp exceeded only by her reach. Was there a more qualified candidate in either party? (OK, maybe Joe Biden). Who needed affirmative action when one was the best?
Many of those who feel resentment that Ms. Clinton was passed over for what they saw as a less qualified male may have reconciled themselves to a vote for Barack Obama as a lesser evil, but were nonetheless still smarting from those wounds. The Palin choice was a way of trying to ensure that those wounds remained opened and well salted, as well as an effort to show that Republicans felt their pain.
Why do I call this an insult to American women?
Well for starters, there are issues. Ms. Palin is to be truly admired for the brave CHOICE she made to live by her principles and carry a Down’s Syndrome child to term. The problems is that she wants to deprive other women of that same CHOICE and impose her bravery and principles upon others who do not share them.
A Jewish Republican sitting on a panel at a recent symposium held by the National Jewish Democratic Council tried to assure his audience that a President McCain would have no passion for social conservatism and would appoint Kennedys and O’Connors to the Federal Bench. Even if we concede this somewhat dubious assertion (which is underpinned by a presumption that McCain is a liar), could he give us the same assurance of about a President Palin, who may soon sit one heartbeat away from a 72 year old President?
And let’s face facts, Ms. Palin is not a qualified women held back because of her gender. Everything about Ms. Palin’s history, right up to the moment of her being chosen by McCain, indicates that her gender has been nothing to her but an asset in her lightning rise from nowhere (almost literally).
Moreover, as I’ve pointed out, there are plenty of female Republicans whose views I'd undoubtedly find repugnant, but who could nonetheless fill the bill better than Ms. Palin.
How about Heather Wilson of New Mexico? Wilson is a serious member of Congress with a background in national security. While she comes from a neighboring state to her party's nominee, so did Al Gore; more to the point, New Mexico is a swing state this year. No one could question Ms. Wilson's credentials (as opposed to her positions).
While my original list of thirty-one Republican women more qualified to be President than Ms. Palin had a couple of ineligible names (Linda Chao and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen are immigrants), leaving only(!!!) 29(!!!) who were both legally eligible (by their birthplace) and demonstrably more qualified (by their experience), that list left out former office holders, military personnel and other qualified dignitaries.
How about Linda Chavez? Chavez is a serious and pernicious neo-con intellectual with the further virtue of potential entrée with a previously Democratic voting bloc.
Did I mention Kay Bailey Hutchison? Elizabeth Dole? Condi Rice?
I could go on and on.
These are women of achievement, women who, whatever their views, would rub sandpaper into the open wounds of those who feel Hillary Clinton was cheated out of what she earned by her blood sweat and tears.
By contrast, the only qualities Ms. Palin appears to share with Senator Clinton are her (as they would say on Michael Palin’s old show, "Monty Python’s Flying Circus") “naughty bits”.
It is almost as if John McCain is saying that he fundamentally believes that Rich or Poor; Northern, Southern or Western; Jewish, Catholic or Protestant; Liberal or Conservative; Black, White, Brown, Red or Yellow; when it all comes down to dust, they are all Pink on the inside.
Republicans have tried to defend Ms. Palin from charges of inexperience in various ways.
First, they remind us that she is running for Vice President and not the White House. That’s correct, Vice President for a 72 year old man with visible memory lapses.
Next, they try comparing her to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. The comparisons are ridiculous.
At the time of his election, Bill Clinton had been a Governor, on and off, for 14 years. During those years, he had also served as head of the Democratic Leadership Council, a group which, among other things, runs a think-tank concerned with both foreign and domestic policy. I won’t even bother mentioning Clinton’s academic background in International Affairs.
Barack Obama serves on the Senate Committees dealing with International Relations and Homeland Security. He displays a sophistication about international affairs and national security exceeding not only that of the White House’s current occupant, but also of far more thoughtful observers as well.
Obama’s policy prescriptions, once condemned by some on the campaign trail, are more and more being adopted by international leaders. In contrast to Ms. Palin's display of ignorance and incuriosity about international almost up to the moment of her selection, Obama’s intellect and expertise predates his attempts to surmount the national stage. Obama’s speech at a 2002 anti-war rally is notable not only for challenging an audience not necessarily prepared to hear a defense of just and necessary wars, but also for its nuance, sophistication and thoughtfulness.
Further, whatever experience Obama may lack in this area is more than made up for by a foreign policy team which includes such heavy hitters as Joe Biden and genocide expert Samantha Power (an example, if one were necessary, that eye candy can also contain the minimum daily adult requirements for expertise and intellectual firepower).
Finally, Obama has shown a quality more important for a President than even knowledge and experience: good judgment. Here the comparison is not between Obama and Palin, but Obama and McCain.
Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his running mate tells us everything we need to know about his judgment, and McCain’s selection of Ms. Palin tells us everything we need to know about his. If there is a candidate in this race who would rather, in Mr. McCain’s words, “lose a war than lose an election”, it ain’t Barack Obama.
This is a dangerous world we live in. By choosing Ms. Palin, Mr. McCain, has shown that it is not merely women he holds in contempt, but the American people as well.
It also indicates that Mr. McCain believes that he is blessed with eternal life; much as I do not want him in the White House, Mr. McCain’s victory would compel me everyday to pray for his health.
McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin may or may not be a brilliant political move; I don't think it is, but I'd not bet my house on it. But, brilliant move or not, it is an act of irresponsibility verging upon the morally reprehensible. Her selection may not be a political problem; but it is a national security problem.