With the focus on the Republicans’ Vice Presidential candidate, the 2008 campaign sometimes looks like Obama is facing off with Palin—rather than McCain—for the Presidency. And, considering McCain’s age, that may not be an inaccurate way to view the election.
Palin’s relative lack of experience does not concern me; what does worry me is her conservative views. I breathed a sigh of relief when McCain got the Republican nomination, as he seemed to be the most moderate of the Republican candidates. But he chose a strong conservative as his running mate to appease more right-wing constituents.
Twenty-four years ago the Democratic Presidential candidate Walter Mondale risked losing the votes of people holding “traditional” views of gender roles by choosing Geraldine Ferraro as the first female candidate for Vice President. It’s ironic, and shows how far we’ve come as a nation, that the same types of people who were less likely to vote for Mondale because of a woman VP are more likely to vote for McCain because of Palin. She embodies socially conservative political agendas: she is anti-abortion, advocates teaching creationism alongside evolution in science classes, and, unlike McCain, she doesn’t believe human activity is responsible for the global warming crisis. She is allowing (quite likely pressuring) her 17-year-old daughter to get married. Her extreme conservative views would do little damage to the nation as long as she was safely tucked away in the Vice Presidency, but if anything happened to McCain it would be another story. As a feminist, I would love to have a woman for President. But, also as a feminist, I would be terrified to have this particular woman for President.
Palin’s relative lack of experience does not concern me; what does worry me is her conservative views. I breathed a sigh of relief when McCain got the Republican nomination, as he seemed to be the most moderate of the Republican candidates. But he chose a strong conservative as his running mate to appease more right-wing constituents.
Twenty-four years ago the Democratic Presidential candidate Walter Mondale risked losing the votes of people holding “traditional” views of gender roles by choosing Geraldine Ferraro as the first female candidate for Vice President. It’s ironic, and shows how far we’ve come as a nation, that the same types of people who were less likely to vote for Mondale because of a woman VP are more likely to vote for McCain because of Palin. She embodies socially conservative political agendas: she is anti-abortion, advocates teaching creationism alongside evolution in science classes, and, unlike McCain, she doesn’t believe human activity is responsible for the global warming crisis. She is allowing (quite likely pressuring) her 17-year-old daughter to get married. Her extreme conservative views would do little damage to the nation as long as she was safely tucked away in the Vice Presidency, but if anything happened to McCain it would be another story. As a feminist, I would love to have a woman for President. But, also as a feminist, I would be terrified to have this particular woman for President.
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