Thanks for mobilizing those of us out here who are feeling frightened of the days ahead and the power that the Republican Party might have over our future. To use a woman against women is the most horrible insult I can imagine. I have five granddaughters and I am definitely going to fight for them. Thank you again for doing your part.
—Judy B.
It is amazing to see McCain and the Republicans co-opt feminism and "empathy" for everyday Americans while they consistently act against the rights and equality of women, family values, middle and lower income families, global community, and the environment. While cloaking their right-wing propaganda in progressive language and under the guise of feminism, they continue to attack the possibility of real change and progress. I especially find it disconcerting that they chose Palin as a representative of women--that because she's a woman and also right-wing, it justifies the conservative platform even more. Their choice of Palin is sexist in thinking that she brings in the female vote and their actions will continue to erode the progress we've fought hard for for years. Sarah Palin does not represent us!
—Mika T., 33, Brooklyn, NY
As a woman and a new mother to a baby girl, I CAN NOT and WILL NOT support Sara Palin for Vice President. Her views on sex education, birth control and abortion alone frighten me and I fear that she would possibly set our country back 40 years. Not to mention, this is a woman who murders moose and is proud of it! I would love to see a woman in the White House and I'm certain that it will happen in my lifetime. But this is NOT the woman.
—Elizabeth P., 29, Los Angeles, CA
As a young girl I use to wear a T-shirt with the female red-haired girl from the Dennise the Mennis cartoon icon that read "Someday A Woman Will Be President". And, I dearly want that to happen. I was a true Hillary supported and cried during her speech at the DNC when she asked if I was in it for her or the country. I know a woman will be president-the right one. A woman that will stand up for our country and put our country first—the entire country not just the conservative right half. I am not now, or ever will be willing to put a woman in office that does not support women's rights, privacy or the morals that keep this country a world leader. I proudly support Obama.
—Paige Lussier J., 29, New York, NY
Sarah Palin's nomination as vice-president brings the Republicans to new depths of cynicism and manipulation. How does the party that once excoriated a television character for being an unwed mother then hold up an unmarried pregnant teenager as the embodiment of family values? How does a woman who is attempting to legislate abstinance education in public schools then justify her own pregnancy before marriage, as well as her daughter's? Why do the Republicans laud "Sarah Barracuda," for her aggressive, ambitious, gunslinging swagger, despite her thin resume, but decry Hillary Clinton, a woman of overwhelming accomplishment and a long history of distinguished public service, as shrill, ambitious and aggressive? Are these qualities acceptable in a female only if you're Republican? How did Barack Obama, black child of a single mother who has worked in public service for his adult career, become a member of the elite? How did Sarah Palin fail to notice that it was the Washington Elite who appointed her to her new, exalted prominence in national politics? Nowhere during her harangue did she mention education, healthcare, the economy, the crash of the housing market, the record unemployment rate or the skyrocketing cost of living. The dialogue has devolved, once again, to Republican Family Values. Sarah Palin dismissed Barack Obama as a "community organizer," with no experience to lead. She snarled and mocked him, told outright lies about his experience as a legislator. To quote from an oft-circulated line on the internet: Sarah Palin needs to be reminded that Jesus Christ was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor.
—Deborah C. S., New York, NY
As a woman, I was insulted that John McCain thought all women are equal and tht women will vote for a candidate for Vice Pres. simply because she is a woman.. To think that a Hillary Clinton fan would vote Republican because he selected Sarah Palin to be his Vice Pres candidate is irrational. Women supported Hillary because she was intelligent, well informed and an exciting person. That she was a woman was an added plus. We did not work for her because she was any woman but because we agreed with her values, goals, ideas. There is nothing about Mrs. Palin that is acceptable - her rough handling of the local librarian, the sheriff who she fired when he refused to fire her brother in law, her attitude on abortion, her ignorance about foreign policy even her boasting about shooting bears and wolves - all these turn me off. To me the saddest thing is what it reveals about the type of person McCain slects to work with. He is an opportunist and selects workers for what they can do for him rather than what they can do for their country. My reaction is to give more money to Democrats and work as hard as I can to get them elected.
—Rosemarie M., Sarasota, FL
Sarah Palin as Republican VP pick not only demonstrates that McCain is not thinking about country first, but that he's an opportunist hoping to cash in on those voters who would be so easily duped by a female runningmate who has not accomplished half off the points Palin stated in her official acceptance speech at the RNC. Not only is she a liar but she is actually just as non-reformist as the politicos she bashes. Shame on McCain. The American people will not be duped by such a transparent choice.
—Jen L., 30, Chicago, IL
I think the choice of Sarah Palin as McCain's VP is an insult to women everywhere. What I find most hypocritical about her, is that she asked this country to respect her daughter's "decision" to keep her baby, yet she wants to take away everyone's right to make that very decision. She wants to only teach teenagers abstinence, yet in not teaching her daughter how to have safe sex, her daughter ends up pregnant at 17... Illogical ideology is not what this country needs right now.
—Laura K., 33, Chicago, IL