First of all, I am absolutely livid at Sarah Palin. I was irritated and angry last night while watching the debate, but as time has passed and I've thought more about it, I've become even angrier. Why?
The damned winking.
I am a working woman. I know that based on statistics, it's likely that I earn less than most of my male colleagues. I know I've watched men at my workplace get promoted, over and over again, while women that are more competent are left behind. I've participated in meetings where men would interrupt women repeatedly, or be dismissive of their comments. The fact is, it is difficult being a professional woman. It's difficult to be taken seriously. It's difficult to be respected equally.
It's a lot better than it used to be. Back in the good old days (days which I particularly would not have enjoyed, being a mixed-race woman) the women who did have careers were often regarded as fair-game for sexual attention at work. Winks, shoulder rubs, a pat on the ass - secretaries, bookkeepers, clerks, and waitresses were expected to put up with this bullshit. And women certainly weren't going to be promoted to management or be given official responsibility.
One of the things that women have had to fight against in order to make the progress we have made is being sexualized in the workplace. We've had to struggle to be seen as colleagues and not office ornaments. We struggle with walking a fine line between being attractive/well-groomed and being suggestive/sexual.
On what essentially is the biggest job interview for any woman in the United States, Sarah Palin decides to wink and grin like she's in a bar and more than half drunk. More than once.
Governor, you're not running for VPILF. You're running for VP.
And before any Palin apologist starts running off with "Oh, that wasn't meant to be sexual. That was just cute/folksy/charming/pick-your-euphemism" I'd like to mention:
- You don't see Biden winking.
- You don't see Obama winking.
- You don't see McCain winking.
- You didn't see Bush winking (either one, including the charming, folksy W.)
- You didn't see Hilary Clinton winking.
- If you watched the post-debate coverage, you probably saw several male and female journalists, campaign staff, pundits, spinners, etc. NOT A ONE OF THEM WINKED.
In addition, even if you want to pretend that it wasn't sexual, it was extremely juvenile. This country faces grave challenges. We have 2 wars going on. We have instability in Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia. We have a looming official recession (in addition to the unofficial recession that most of us have been feeling for some time now). We have a health care crisis. We have an exploding national debt and a growing budget deficit.
THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR WINKING AND GRINNING. Governor, you're not 16. You're a grown, professional woman interviewing for the 2nd highest job in the nation. You're trying to show that you have the knowledge, judgment, and seriousness to be able to negotiate with members of Congress, meet with foreign leaders, and conduct business on behalf of this entire nation. And you ought to be embarrassed when the barista at Caribou Coffee acts more professional than you do.
Okay - with that aside....other debate impressions.
I thought it was obvious that Biden knows a great deal more than Palin. Biden was well informed on the issues last night, and made it a point to answer questions for the most part. Palin generally ignored questions that were difficult or potentially damaging. This was not surprising to me, or probably anyone. Her few interviews have shown her staggering level of ignorance on most national issues.
I was surprised about Palin's comments on benefits for same sex couples. I know that her voting record on the issue and her religious convictions on the issue don't really match up to each other. I was mostly surprised to hear her be so willing to provide benefits. I wonder what folks like Dobson are saying about that comment (if anything). I'll have to check later.
I was shocked and horrified to hear Palin agrees with Cheney on the role of the Vice President, and even worse, she seems to want additional "powers and flexibility." Umm.....no thanks.
Overall, I don't think this debate changed much as far as the race is concerned. The people that loved Palin still love her. The people that hated Palin still hate her. And the undecideds - most are still undecided. Those undecideds knew pre-debate that Biden would know more than Palin, but that Palin was more "folksy" than Biden, and they simply had that confirmed. Not a game changer.
I will probably add more to this posting later.
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