ok phone. let the post-election commenting begin.

johnny boy has already lost, so the butchering of his positions will hopefully cease soon. McCain did vote against one version of the Violence Against Women Act. That version was particularly heavy with pork, which we all know he hates so much. That he only voted against a pork-laden version should at least give you pause before saying he is against the actual Violence Against Women Act. The fact that nine months before his vote in the negative he voted FOR the original (and pork free) version of the act and has voted for it’s re-authorization when it has come up should make you stop saying he opposes the act, or I really will think you just peruse the Daily Kos headlines instead of doing your own research.

As for the Fair Pay Act, it is entirely within the realm of possibilities that McCain truly opposes equal pay for women. I think it is much more likely that he opposed the act because of the huge amount of frivolous lawsuits its passing would have made possible. That at least seems more plausible given McCains entire record. 42 senators seemed to agree that while equal pay for equal work should be the norm, this act was not a good way to achieve it.

Now, the meat of your post. But first, a caveat. Sarah Palin is a joke of a role model. She drastically changed her positions when she shifted from governor to vice-presidential candidate, showing a near-complete lack of convictions. Her wild claims on the campaign trail, siphoning as much money as possible from the campaign and RNC, and questionable practices as governor leave her ethical grounding as iffy at best. And she is a piss-poor campaigner and seems just plain unintelligent. Not much of a role model.

With all that said though, I think you’re pretty off base about feminists not being able to support her. From your post you come across as thinking that feminism is a mostly monolithic movement which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Feminism is broad and depending on what particular branch a person subscribes to they may think that pornography exploits women or allows for a greater degree of free expression, and that women who are stay at home moms are perfectly acceptable if they make the choice themselves or are part of the problem no matter whose choice it is.

Likewise, some feminists do embrace Palin as a woman who, though not wholly qualified, has managed to rise to the top, just as others despise her for seemingly being used as a man’s pawn.

Plus there are other reasons she was picked. Her social conservative credentials were seen as a huge plus by McCain. I don’t see anything wrong or unusual with a presidential candidate picking a running mate to shore up their popularity. McCain needed help with women, so he picked a woman. He needed help with social conservatives, he picked a social conservative. He needed help with the youth vote, he picked a young running mate.

This is no different than Obama’s selection process. He needed help with experience, he picked an experienced running mate. He needed help with white working class males, he picked a white male who appeals to those with blue-collars. Yet I don’t here you saying that it sets back the male movement (masculists?) that he was selected in part to lure white male voters to Obama’s side.

Palin is a putz (putz-ette?) and was a dumb choice for running mate. But she was selected on more than her chromosome makeup. And even if she was selected only because she is a woman, feminists wouldn’t have quite the one-voice-of-condemnation like you seem to think. Feminist theory is very diverse, and (though I think their reasons are bogus) can even find a home in the pro-life/anti-choice movement.

At its most basic level, feminism simply means that women should have the opportunity and freedom to make the same choices, receive the same rewards, accept the same criticism, have the same responsibility, enjoy the same respect as men.

While I do believe Palin was used to a certain extent, I don’t think she was used without her knowledge. She knew exactly why she was picked as McCain’s running mate. Everyone did. She then tried to make the best of it - including “going rogue,” which can be seen as pursuing her own choices and creating a stand for her own future when it seemed the current ticket was going down. Unfortunately, she was either poorly handled and prepped or decided she didn’t need handling or prepping. What was initially seen as part of her charm ended up being her downfall because of how she presented herself through the campaign.

I think the reason there is such negativity around Palin (except for ultra-conservative anti-abortionists for whom the religious aspect of abortion is either the singular, or by far the primary, issue to choose their country’s leader) is because there were better choices for this historical moment. There were women more informed about international issues, women more confident about economic issues outside of Alaska, women with more polish in the public arena who could step in as the next president if needed, women who better understand teamwork and leadership, women who better represent the best of all a woman can be.

What deeply offends me is that this woman was immediately portrayed as a role model for women and girls; the type of person we could all aspire to. For me and my view of what a woman can be, for my view of what a leader can be, for my view of what the vice-president of the U.S. can be, Sarah Palin is not that role model.

Women were not treated with equal respect in this campaign, but at least women were in it.

Now that the 2008 election and its historic high turnout is history, there is much greater appreciation for the privilege of voting.

But most people don’t realize that out of 44 American presidents, only the last 15 were elected in a truly democratic fashion by all of our citizens — men AND women.

Until 1920 women were denied the vote, and few people have any idea of the struggle our suffragettes had to go through to right this wrong. It’s an amazing, awe-inspiring story!

Now you can subscribe FREE to my exciting historical e-mail series that reveals HOW the suffragettes won votes for women. Believe me, it wasn’t easy!

“The Privilege of Voting” is drawing rave reviews from readers all over the world. Dramatic, sequential short-story episodes follow the lives of eight of the world’s most famous women to tell the true stories of the courage of the suffragettes. Read this FREE e-mail series on your coffeebreaks and be inspired by these amazing women!

Subscribe free at

http://www.CoffeebreakReaders.com/subscribe.html