"I was the first American citizen to be elected to Congress in spite of the double drawbacks of being female and having skin darkened by melanin. When you put it that way, it sounds like a foolish reason for fame. In a just and free society it would be foolish."
—Shirley Chisholm
I think Sarah Palin is an interesting and strong woman and entitled to her own beliefs and decisions as they pertain to her own life. I cannot vote for her. I don't believe she will represent or act according to the interests of the majority of American women. My feeling is that she thinks her personal beliefs and decisions are the right ones for every woman in America.
-JMD, 62, NC
I am a mother of three children, married and Catholic. Ms. Palin does not represent me as a woman living in the United States of America in 2008. She would not have in 1999 nor she would have represented my mother in 1970's but perhaps she would have been a perfect reflection of white conservative women in the 1950's and therefore a perfect representative for them those generations ago where there was an unpopular war and people calling for real change, she would have been perfect then. But we are not women of generations past, we are women of all shades of color living the embodiment of women who can call upon freedoms that no other country boasts. The American people have become distracted. Palin, participating in this election as a trojan horse, has come with phrases that involve animals and lipsticks, bridges to nowhere, and eBay, leading americans in to an abyss of distractions pulling away from the very sobering facts that who she represents and the policies she supports are a complete replica of the current Bush administration, on paper, and without personality mud-slings, the Palin/MCCain ticket represent 4 more years of the same policies the world has come to hate.
-Mariestella, C., Georgia
I voted for Hilary Clinton in the Massachusetts Primary and made three donations to her campaign. I will now vote for Barack Obama in November, and have just contributed to his campaign. John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin, in fact, made this Hillary supporter even more certain that it would be a huge mistake to support the McCain ticket. Sarah Palin’s political style is pure old boy, “pit bull” politics. Pit bulls do not bring about change, they only render damage.
-Christine S., MA
Sarah Palin is the classic example of a woman being used by those in power to remove power from women. If a man, with the same abysmal record against women's and children's issues, against environmental issues, in support of teaching creationism in schools, and with a complete lack of sophistication and international experience, had been named the vice presidential candidate (as McCain's running mate, potentially the oldest president ever elected), there would have been an undisputed national outcry for his fringe and retrograde stances. It is as if, because Sarah Palin is a woman and a mother, she is above being criticized for her anti-woman and anti-child legislation and People magazine can focus on the feel-good aspects of her supporting her pregnant daughter and loving her autistic child. That's all very sweet, but it is irrelevant to the role she is seeking to fill and it can't make her horrific political profile any more palatable. I am disgusted and yet not surprised to see a woman used against women. Divide and conquer has been an effective strategy since the beginning of time.
- Iliza A., 39, San Francisco, CA
When I hear women declaring that electing Sarah Palin as VP would be a gain for women, I am amazed and heartsick. Having our hard-won rights squelched by men would be bad enough, but how much more galling and tragic to lose them because of a woman. Sarah Palin would hurt women, on a large scale. And when women are hurt, their children usually hurt, too. Palin is another Republican theocrat pretending to be a libertarian. Her pretty smile belies the fact that she is very, very dangerous.
- Margaret K., 55, Dayton, OH
As a woman, born and living in this country my entire life, I am in disbelief about McCain's choice if this woman as his running mate. She represents everything in the way of values and beliefs that have been destroying this country. She is arrogant, has had little real governing experience, and certainly knows nothing about how the Washington "system" works. Our country will be in even more serious trouble with her as a national leader.
- Enid B., 70, Durango, CO
This evening I was out at a restaurant having dinner. Two gentlemen who work on Wall Street sat next to me and started a conversation. They cracked several jokes in reference to Sarah Palin and hunting moose. I questioned them on their meaning of these jokes. Basically, they are both McCain supporters and their main concerns are taxes and staying in Iraq for the oil (no matter that many men and women are losing their limbs, brains and lives over it). They think Sarah Palin is a joke and as one stated "yeah, the women are just eating her up - ha, ha". I raised the question of "what if McCain dies," and one of them answered, "that would be scary". So there is the disrespect - that even men in the Republican party think she's a joke and just a means to gaining the women's vote. It's obvious that she is not qualified and is just a pawn for McCain to win some votes.
- Kathleen D., 48, New York, NY
Watching her acceptance speech has left me disturbed and angry for a week, it is unbelievable that someone so unqualified and extremist could become a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world. And we thought things could not get any Worse than W!
- Elaine Miller, 50, Oak Park, IL
One fine Friday in June 1952, the woman living in the apartment next door to ours left her 2-year-old daughter with a babysitter to have an (illegal, of course) abortion. She came home later that afternoon weak and pale. She developed an infection and did not survive the weekend. I have never forgotten it. Nor has her daughter. Sarah Palin, NO NO NO.
- Marilyn F., 60, Fairfax, VA
Today for the first time since I was able to vote in 1972 I sent a contribution to a political campaign. (Obama of course). Palin is Bush in a dress. I am just sick at the thought of Palin being just a heartbeat away from the highest office in the land.
- Barbara D., 58, San Francisco, CA
I am a woman of conscience, the mother of two children whom I adore, a elected member of my local School Board, a faithful churchgoer, an avid reader, and deeply rooted in my community. I have lived both in this country and abroad, and have a college education. I have been a foxhunter (on horseback), have many close friends with children with disabilities, and have recently become both a tae kwan do and a soccer mom. My daughter's name is Sarah. You might think I have much in common with Sarah Palin.
I have nothing, politically, in common with Sarah Palin. I care more about the future I leave my children and their children.....and I care more about my neighbor's grandchildren's world...than I do about my own purse, or how much I pay in taxes. I care so much about opening possibilities for people to truly take responsibility for their lives that I would never dream of tampering with their right to make choices about how they live their lives. I expect people to hold me fully accountable for all the choices I make in my life, and I don't look to others to fix my problems for me. As I said, I have hardly anything in common with Sarah Palin.
- Susan S., New York, NY
As a woman who is proud of the accomplishments of women over the past one hundred years, I am appalled and terrified by the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate. This choice gives much credence to McCain's and the Republican party's lack of judgment and responsibility. I do not question whether Ms. Palin is a good mother or not. I don't care. As a potential leader for this country she is an abomination. What a ludicrous, blatantly pandering, frightening irresponsible choice this was. I can only hope that ultimately women see this for what it is, an arrogant, denigrating ploy to get their vote.
- Penny W., 56, North Carolina
Sarah Palin's speech made me sick to my stomach. She was smug, self-righteous, petty, rude, arrogant and her beliefs are in complete opposition to my own. I will fight for the Democratic ticket harder because McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate.
- Gail S., 50, Austin, TX
I am shocked and scared that she is deemed qualified for this high office and that she seems to have fooled so many women. The thought of her in that position with her lack of experience, her delight in mocking another candidate when we need to heal this great divide, and her delight in all this attention. It is mind boggling that many qualified (and less photogenic) women were passed over. Now is NOT the time for political games.
- Sandy K., 69, Duluth, MN
As the granddaughter of a woman who marched for the right to organize, unionize, earn equal pay, and to be in charge of her own reproductive rights, I am dismayed. My grandmother made speeches in favor of birth control as a woman's right and spoke for Margaret Sanger in Yiddish. I'm NOT going backwards in time. That would be a travesty to the memory of my grandmother, my daughters, my granddaughters. The woman has absolutely NO experience at the national or international level--what if she has to deal with foreign governments or formulate policy. And, further, I am a librarian and member of the American Library Association. Palin's behavior is so contrary to everything the ALA endorses and promotes.
- Diane P, 68, Brooklyn, NY
-JMD, 62, NC
I am a mother of three children, married and Catholic. Ms. Palin does not represent me as a woman living in the United States of America in 2008. She would not have in 1999 nor she would have represented my mother in 1970's but perhaps she would have been a perfect reflection of white conservative women in the 1950's and therefore a perfect representative for them those generations ago where there was an unpopular war and people calling for real change, she would have been perfect then. But we are not women of generations past, we are women of all shades of color living the embodiment of women who can call upon freedoms that no other country boasts. The American people have become distracted. Palin, participating in this election as a trojan horse, has come with phrases that involve animals and lipsticks, bridges to nowhere, and eBay, leading americans in to an abyss of distractions pulling away from the very sobering facts that who she represents and the policies she supports are a complete replica of the current Bush administration, on paper, and without personality mud-slings, the Palin/MCCain ticket represent 4 more years of the same policies the world has come to hate.
-Mariestella, C., Georgia
I voted for Hilary Clinton in the Massachusetts Primary and made three donations to her campaign. I will now vote for Barack Obama in November, and have just contributed to his campaign. John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin, in fact, made this Hillary supporter even more certain that it would be a huge mistake to support the McCain ticket. Sarah Palin’s political style is pure old boy, “pit bull” politics. Pit bulls do not bring about change, they only render damage.
-Christine S., MA
Sarah Palin is the classic example of a woman being used by those in power to remove power from women. If a man, with the same abysmal record against women's and children's issues, against environmental issues, in support of teaching creationism in schools, and with a complete lack of sophistication and international experience, had been named the vice presidential candidate (as McCain's running mate, potentially the oldest president ever elected), there would have been an undisputed national outcry for his fringe and retrograde stances. It is as if, because Sarah Palin is a woman and a mother, she is above being criticized for her anti-woman and anti-child legislation and People magazine can focus on the feel-good aspects of her supporting her pregnant daughter and loving her autistic child. That's all very sweet, but it is irrelevant to the role she is seeking to fill and it can't make her horrific political profile any more palatable. I am disgusted and yet not surprised to see a woman used against women. Divide and conquer has been an effective strategy since the beginning of time.
- Iliza A., 39, San Francisco, CA
When I hear women declaring that electing Sarah Palin as VP would be a gain for women, I am amazed and heartsick. Having our hard-won rights squelched by men would be bad enough, but how much more galling and tragic to lose them because of a woman. Sarah Palin would hurt women, on a large scale. And when women are hurt, their children usually hurt, too. Palin is another Republican theocrat pretending to be a libertarian. Her pretty smile belies the fact that she is very, very dangerous.
- Margaret K., 55, Dayton, OH
As a woman, born and living in this country my entire life, I am in disbelief about McCain's choice if this woman as his running mate. She represents everything in the way of values and beliefs that have been destroying this country. She is arrogant, has had little real governing experience, and certainly knows nothing about how the Washington "system" works. Our country will be in even more serious trouble with her as a national leader.
- Enid B., 70, Durango, CO
This evening I was out at a restaurant having dinner. Two gentlemen who work on Wall Street sat next to me and started a conversation. They cracked several jokes in reference to Sarah Palin and hunting moose. I questioned them on their meaning of these jokes. Basically, they are both McCain supporters and their main concerns are taxes and staying in Iraq for the oil (no matter that many men and women are losing their limbs, brains and lives over it). They think Sarah Palin is a joke and as one stated "yeah, the women are just eating her up - ha, ha". I raised the question of "what if McCain dies," and one of them answered, "that would be scary". So there is the disrespect - that even men in the Republican party think she's a joke and just a means to gaining the women's vote. It's obvious that she is not qualified and is just a pawn for McCain to win some votes.
- Kathleen D., 48, New York, NY
Watching her acceptance speech has left me disturbed and angry for a week, it is unbelievable that someone so unqualified and extremist could become a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world. And we thought things could not get any Worse than W!
- Elaine Miller, 50, Oak Park, IL
One fine Friday in June 1952, the woman living in the apartment next door to ours left her 2-year-old daughter with a babysitter to have an (illegal, of course) abortion. She came home later that afternoon weak and pale. She developed an infection and did not survive the weekend. I have never forgotten it. Nor has her daughter. Sarah Palin, NO NO NO.
- Marilyn F., 60, Fairfax, VA
Today for the first time since I was able to vote in 1972 I sent a contribution to a political campaign. (Obama of course). Palin is Bush in a dress. I am just sick at the thought of Palin being just a heartbeat away from the highest office in the land.
- Barbara D., 58, San Francisco, CA
I am a woman of conscience, the mother of two children whom I adore, a elected member of my local School Board, a faithful churchgoer, an avid reader, and deeply rooted in my community. I have lived both in this country and abroad, and have a college education. I have been a foxhunter (on horseback), have many close friends with children with disabilities, and have recently become both a tae kwan do and a soccer mom. My daughter's name is Sarah. You might think I have much in common with Sarah Palin.
I have nothing, politically, in common with Sarah Palin. I care more about the future I leave my children and their children.....and I care more about my neighbor's grandchildren's world...than I do about my own purse, or how much I pay in taxes. I care so much about opening possibilities for people to truly take responsibility for their lives that I would never dream of tampering with their right to make choices about how they live their lives. I expect people to hold me fully accountable for all the choices I make in my life, and I don't look to others to fix my problems for me. As I said, I have hardly anything in common with Sarah Palin.
- Susan S., New York, NY
As a woman who is proud of the accomplishments of women over the past one hundred years, I am appalled and terrified by the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate. This choice gives much credence to McCain's and the Republican party's lack of judgment and responsibility. I do not question whether Ms. Palin is a good mother or not. I don't care. As a potential leader for this country she is an abomination. What a ludicrous, blatantly pandering, frightening irresponsible choice this was. I can only hope that ultimately women see this for what it is, an arrogant, denigrating ploy to get their vote.
- Penny W., 56, North Carolina
Sarah Palin's speech made me sick to my stomach. She was smug, self-righteous, petty, rude, arrogant and her beliefs are in complete opposition to my own. I will fight for the Democratic ticket harder because McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate.
- Gail S., 50, Austin, TX
I am shocked and scared that she is deemed qualified for this high office and that she seems to have fooled so many women. The thought of her in that position with her lack of experience, her delight in mocking another candidate when we need to heal this great divide, and her delight in all this attention. It is mind boggling that many qualified (and less photogenic) women were passed over. Now is NOT the time for political games.
- Sandy K., 69, Duluth, MN
As the granddaughter of a woman who marched for the right to organize, unionize, earn equal pay, and to be in charge of her own reproductive rights, I am dismayed. My grandmother made speeches in favor of birth control as a woman's right and spoke for Margaret Sanger in Yiddish. I'm NOT going backwards in time. That would be a travesty to the memory of my grandmother, my daughters, my granddaughters. The woman has absolutely NO experience at the national or international level--what if she has to deal with foreign governments or formulate policy. And, further, I am a librarian and member of the American Library Association. Palin's behavior is so contrary to everything the ALA endorses and promotes.
- Diane P, 68, Brooklyn, NY
