McCain's Selection For VP Is An Insult To Female Supporters Of Hillary Clinton

By Manifesto Joe

I held off a couple of days commenting on McCain's selection of a prospective VP. I wanted to see reactions. Now, I think it's important to note what a pathetically lame insult this is to erstwhile female supporters of Hillary Clinton. It's as though McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin thought that, in order to lure female voters who had backed Clinton, having a running mate with a vagina would be enough.

I truly hate to break this to McCain and the Grand Old Putzes, but the majority of women who voted for Hillary have brains as well as vaginas. Most of them are hip to the fact that Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin are galaxies apart on the issues, and also highly distinguishable in terms of experience.

Courtesy of moveon.org, here's a rundown of Palin's limited background, and her views on key issues:

She was elected Alaska 's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2

She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7

Here's the link if you want to check out the footnote sources.

Since we've touched on McCain's bizarre lack of vetting of his vice presidential choice, let's not give short shrift to "Troopergate." Surely the McCain campaign, had it been paying serious attention, would have known that this has ballooned into a $100,000 investigation in a small state. It's a problem that may not be fatal for Palin, but those Grand Old Putzes certainly could have done without this grief from the first female standard-bearer on the top ticket.

Washington Post writers James V. Grimaldi and Kimberly Kindy seemed to cover this matter pretty well, so I'll throw in the link. Suffice it to say, it looks like the Palin family got it in for an ex-brother-in-law, perhaps actually going to the length of firing a good state official because he wouldn't go along with the vengeance. Granted, this state trooper could be a man with problems, but evidence seems to point to others who may also have personal issues. ...

Back to the thesis, I noticed that the very morning of the announcement, Palin had the chutzpah to mention Geraldine Ferraro, and Hillary, as forerunners toward piercing that nasty, testosterone-stained glass ceiling. This was from someone who has the most far-right position on abortion rights imaginable.

I won't repeat any of the other problems, but I'll offer a passage regarding Palin's environmental views. This is from Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund:

WASHINGTON-- Senator John McCain just announced his choice for running mate: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. To follow is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund:

“Senator McCain’s choice for a running mate is beyond belief. By choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has clearly made a decision to continue the Bush legacy of destructive environmental policies.

“Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum), has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the environment. In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska’s coasts, and put special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush administration to address the impacts of global warming. Her most recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big Oil before sound science. As unbelievable as this may sound, this actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration.

“This is Senator McCain’s first significant choice in building his executive team and it’s a bad one. It has to raise serious doubts in the minds of voters about John McCain’s commitment to conservation, to addressing the impacts of global warming and to ensuring our country ends its dependency on oil.”

I hope almost all of Hillary's female supporters will see this right-wing pandering for what it is -- a contemptible insult.

Manifesto Joe Is An Underground Writer Living In Texas.