A Floridian Woman Says NO—"There are so many reasons"

There are so many reasons to oppose Sarah Palin as a Vice-Presidential candidate, I am not sure where to begin. First and foremost, before knowing much of anything about her personally at all, I was appalled and insulted by the McCain campaign’s selection of this hard-lined conservative woman. It was immediately obvious as pandering to women, and also pandering to a sub-set of extremely conservative, Evangelical Christian Republicans that were not enthusiastic about John McCain in the first place. It seemed, and continues to seem, as this campaign wears on, that John McCain exercised absolutely no judgment, and did exercise complete impulsiveness by choosing her. After learning more about her positions on the issues that are not only important to the country as a whole, but to women in particular, I began to feel terrified about what this woman would do with the power of the Presidency. I mean no disrespect to anyone from Alaska, but Alaska is hardly a microcosm of our country. She does not possess the worldliness, education, and exposure to be able to represent the country at large. Her acquired political and representative skills only (and barely) allow her to represent a minute fraction of people in this country. Her views on women’s rights are so backward-looking that we, and our daughters, are in danger if she is allowed to govern us.

Frankly, the more I see of her in the media, which of course has been completely scripted, edited, dictated, and minimal, the more positive I am that she was a terrible choice for the Republican ticket, and I am beginning to feel sorry for her. I thought she was a very tough and condescending speaker when she gave her speech at the RNC convention, but upon direct examination and questioning, she is painful to watch. I am hopeful that I am not the only one who realizes how blatantly unprepared she is for the world stage of presidential politics and world leadership. And I am worried that her performance will also be used against women in the future of politics. After watching her fumble the few interviews she has given, I am confused about how she managed to actually become a governor of a state.

There are many more worldy, educated, and experienced Republican women politicians that could have been chosen as running mate for John McCain. Those women should be terribly insulted that they were passed over for this lightweight. She was never chosen to be seen as John McCain’s equal. This proves to me without a doubt that the Republican Party does not respect women or put the best interests of women in their platform. Women continue to serve only as tools and ornaments for them.
-Tamara D., 39, Fort Lauderdale, FL