"Small use it will be to save democracy for the race if we cannot save the race for democracy."
—Jeanette Rankin
—Jeanette Rankin
I am a registered Republican. I was born in and have resided in San Francisco since graduating from college at UC Berkeley. That's right, there are Republicans who are Berkeley graduates and San Francisco residents. As a registered Republican, and as an accomplished professional woman with a law degree, I feel it is my duty to share my extreme distress over McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. She is not qualified to be the President of the United States and she does not represent Republican women. The worst part about the choice, is there are so many qualified Republican women that McCain could have selected, but I suppose he felt that Kay Bailey Hutchinson was "too old" and oh... that's right... she's also Pro Choice (as are many intelligent and educated Republican women of all ages). I have voted in every Presidential election since 1984 and my vote has elected the President in 4 of the 5 elections. (I voted for Dole over Clinton, but voted for Clinton over Bush Sr) I was undecided about Obama vs McCain until McCain selected Palin as his running mate. Although there are many things I do not like about McCain and his beliefs, most of them are related to his stance on social issues and when push came to shove, I would not have allowed that to force my decision on the President. However, I cannot in good conscience cast my vote for a anyone who would place Sarah Palin one heartbeat away from the Presidency. She doesn't have an opinion on Iraq and she doesn't "do the economy thing." What pray tell does she think the President is tasked with?
-Beth P., 42, San Francisco
If she doesn't have her own children's best interests at heart, and I see much to indicate that she does not, then she certainly isn't going to care about my children or my grandchildren.
I want a world where the woman representing my country on a global level knows what the residing President's doctrine is! There are many highly qualified and seasoned women in the Republican party who would and could serve this country well. They might even represent some of the same stances on key issues that Sarah Palin does. But they would not be as morally reprehensible.
-Robin S., 52, Vermont
Governor Palin is not knowledgeable or smart enough to say, "I don't know as much as I would like to about foreign affairs or the economy" or to acknowledge any doubts about accepting the VP candidate offer. Her unwillingness to speak anything other than written statements is alarming. She is performing, not showing her true positions. She has also not studied law or international affairs, she's done no graduate level work. Who wouldn't be embarrassed to brag that she can "see Russia" from Alaska -- she has never been there or worked internationally in any way. She only visited troops once! Wake up, Americans -- this isn't a vote for American Idol -- this is the President and VP, when we so, so badly need real leadership, and inspiration in the Oval Office.
-Dr. Marlene C., Silver Spring, MD
I feel Sarah Palin is not addressing the issues at hand by relating to soccer moms, I am a mother of a daughter who played sports and was a cheerleader but this is not what I want to hear from a vice presidential candidate. John McCain chose her to go after the women’s vote. Well I know the great women of the USA can see through this one! So much attention has been on her these last few weeks that I do not remember who is the real presidential candidate! I was undecided until she was nominated and now I know for sure that we do not need 8 more years of republican damage, it is time to clean out Washington and pull together as a nation.
-Pam K., Allentown, PA
Mrs. Palin is the complete opposite of what a woman candidate should stand for, and if elected will move the country backward. I want my future daughters to know that they have the same opportunities and choices that I have had. The future is what frightens me about her, but the things that have happened in my past are what make me have no respect for her.
I was a rape victim at the age of 17, and chose to abort the resulting pregnancy on my 18th birthday. Continuing with that pregnancy would have not only affected my mental and emotional well-being, but also derailed my college education. If it were up to Sarah Palin the most traumatic experience of my life would have been compounded, and had I been unfortunate enough to live in her city at the time I would have had to pay for my own rape kit. The day this woman enters office is the day that women’s rights take a huge leap in the wrong direction.
-A. A., Bella Vista, AR
As a Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother I feel that Mrs. Palin stands for all the wrong things that we as women have been fighting for. A vote for her is a vote backwards for women. Please think about the women in your family before you vote for McCain/Palin.
-Sandy Q., MO
I believe the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate is pandering to the lowest common denominator of the American voting public. As a working mother of 2 terrific children who has managed to stay married to the same man for 33 years, and as a former Naval Officer who loves this country, I would like to add my voice to the ground swell of women who say emphatically that Sarah Palin not only does not represent me, and her presence on the platform is a mortifying embarrassment. Domestically her stance on issues of choice, stem cell research, sex education and science, risks setting the advances that women have worked so hard for back by decades. Based on what I have heard from her so far, Sarah Palin is so utterly uninformed, sophomoric and insular in her world view that it is simply unbelievable to me that she would be considered a reasonable choice as Vice President of the United States of America in anyone’s universe. The United States is truly at a “tipping point” in terms of our political, economic, and military influence on the world stage. The consequences of voting for a ticket so dramatically weakened by the choice of Sarah Palin is frightening.
-Laurel H., 57, Bainbridge Island, WA
If she wasn’t so pretty would she be as captivating? No! Put 50 pounds on her and gray hair, and then Americans would be talking substance and issues.
NO SARAH! NO WAY!
-Kathy F., Jupiter, FL
I am pro sex education, pro-choice and pro separation of church and state. I cannot imagine this last issue even being a consideration as it is against our constitutional law. I do not believe Sarah Palin is an appropriate, qualified candidate to be vice-president of our country, nor do I support her position on the above issues.
-Deborah S., 68, Blue Bell, PA
I come from a long line of Montana ranching women, and I absolutely believe that both of my grandmothers are turning in their graves at the idea that this woman represents the "average" American women. How dare she make light of people getting a serious education, working to better their communities, and then find it funny to compare supportive moms to pitbulls?!? What?!?! Keeping abortion legal isn't about liking abortion, Sarah, it's about trusting women to make decisions that are right for themselves and their families--much like you trusted your own daughter to do that. That trust is at the core of women supporting and representing each other. Sarah, you clearly don't support me, and you certainly don't represent me. You also don't represent any of the values my grandmothers taught me, and if I have anything to say about it, you never will.
-Kristi S., OR
In all my years of voting, I have never been so concerned for the future of my country and for my fellow Americans. The leader of the free world needs to be a lot smarter than I am. I don’t want someone who needs to cram for a week before she’s “let out” to speak on camera, being a heartbeat away from that position. I can understand the very rich and the very religious voting Republican but they are not the majority. Sarah Palin and I have only our gender in common. She does not speak for me.
-Mary G., 57, Des Moines, Iowa
I resent Palin's viewpoint, she doesn't reflect mine on the American scene. She is living in the dark ages. She is dictating her anti-views on sex education, pro-life, and the environment. She is anti-Polar Bears! They live on the ice floes, the oil digging destroys the ice, and that would be the end of these beautiful creatures. Palin has a skinned bear draped on her couch! UGH.
-Betty K, Age 90, Boca Raton, FL
Sarah Palin does NOT represent ALL women. she is more like George Bush than McCain is - not well educated/traveled/open to counsel. she is impulsive and shoots from the hip, all the while having complete confidence that she's 'right.' she is truly a heartbeat away from the presidency - too dangerous!!
-Mary S., 65, IL
