Putting Women First

Oooohhh, it's all too much. First, the silly Republicans were pissed that Sen. Obama was getting so much media attention. Then, they nominated Gov. Sarah Palin to be their Vice-Presidential candidate, surprising even those close to Sen. McCain and virtually guaranteeing a media shitstorm. Which they got! Now, though, reporters are supposed to "back off," and for heaven's sake stop picking on our (female) candidate! Why, the disrespect! The NOIVE! Don't you all know that she's the first female Republican candidate for the #2 slot?!?

(Ya like all of those conditions? It gets silly after awhile; sort of like calling myself "the first Kiss fan composer to live on my block." At some level of pre-conditions, EVERYONE is a "first" at something!)

Anyway. According to campaign manager Rick Davis, "Certainly, her record deserves scrutiny, but I think we ought to look at her record." Davis condemned "the salacious nature" of some news stories designed to "throw dirt at our candidate," urging the media to "dial it back." Apparently, it was okay to “throw dirt” at John Kerry (which even spawned a new verb: Swiftboating), or to ignore the TRUE across-the-aisles working government of Bill Clinton (who got a lot accomplished even while hamstrung by a vindictive Republican congress) and instead focus on “the salacious nature” of his Resolute blowjobs. Funny how nobody wanted to just look at HIS record, not as long as merciless head-hunter Ken Starr was calling the shots! As far as “dialing it back” is concerned…well, Republicans were already shitting themselves that Obama was getting all the media attention; now that Palin is getting it…they don’t WANT it? I’m confused…

Or, perhaps I'm NOT confused. The media admittedly treated Obama rather like a darling, whereas Palin is getting lots of really tough questions. Problem is: her record (once you take a look at it, per Davis' request!) rather makes at least some of those tough questions DESERVED! Things like:

• The announcement that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol Palin, was pregnant. (See previous blog post for my thoughts on whether or not that's fair campaign fodder.)

• She has hired a private attorney (who is authorized to spend $95,000 of state money) to defend her against accusations of abuse of power. (I don't personally know anything about this other than the hire, but where there's smoke...)

• Palin sought pork-barrel projects for her city and state, contrary to her reformist image. (She claimed to have fought the "Bridge to Nowhere" in her speech last night, but - conveniently! - left out her desire to rake in federal bucks for OTHER "special needs." As mayor of Wasilla (the 4th-largest city in Alaska...at roughly 7,000 residents), Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million - three-quarters of a billion dollars, for the 47th-largest state in the Union! - in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation.)

• Her husband once belonged to a "fringe political group" in Alaska, with some members supporting secession from the United States. (This strikes even me as spurious. When did he belong? Like, when he was 19 or 20? I was obsessed with the occult when I was a teenager, but that doesn't make me a "Satanist." This is a situation where names need to be named, as well as a timeline.)

• Palin has acknowledged smoking marijuana in the past. (Geez, are we still on about this? Enough, already! Let's just admit that anyone under the age of, I dunno, 50, has probably tried pot. As long as she doesn't have a dime bag in her bra, let's let it drop!)

So, she's getting some attention finally, and even after her sarcastic, Lipstick Pit Bull speech last night (nearly every word designed to hide the fact that her ticket has nothing to offer the average American), folks in the McCain campaign are calling on journalists to back off. She's a woman! And a Republican! Take it EASY on her, man! (*rolls eyes*)

When it comes to putting women first, of course, the Republicans would really prefer to forget all about Geraldine Ferraro, the DEMOCRATIC candidate for Vice-President nearly 25 years ago. That's right, folks: a quarter of a century ago, Democrats already had their shit together enough to put a woman in the #2 slot. (Naturally, their shit eventually hit the fan, with Mondale/Ferraro only getting electorates from a single state, but still...) Here are some other notable women, and some surprising numbers:

• The first female governors in the U.S were elected in 1925, and they were both Democrats: Nellie Tayloe Ross to Wyoming and Miriam A. Fergesun to Texas. The first femal Republican governor was Vesta M. Roy of New Hampshire...in 1982!! She only served one week, and was never officially sworn in. The first elected female Republican governor was Kay A. Orr of Nebraska, and that not until 1987. As of this writing, there have been 19 female Democratic governors, but only 11 Republicans.

• In the Congress, the first elected female senator (one previously had been appointed to fill her husband's vacancy-by-death) was a Democrat from Arkansas, in 1931: Hattie Wyatt Caraway. 22 Democratic women have been senators...13 were Republican. Republicans DID elect the first female to the U.S. House of Representatives, from Montana, in 1917. Since then, though, their dedication to feminine equality has been nearly as low as their President's approval ratings: of 246 elected Congresswomen, only 88 were Republican. That's 36%...not much to brag about.

So the overwhelmingly white attendees at the RNC can feel pretty good about their scrappy MILF of a V-P candidate. But they have a LOT of catching up to do, and that pretty much sums up modern Republicanism: way, WAY behind the times, and way out of touch with the needs and concerns of ordinary Americans...the MAJORITY of Americans.