is it unsisterly to think that Sarah Palin is horrid and the worst possible example of a woman in power

[beforesunrise]

ok, I used to think that as women we ought to support other women to almost unreasonable levels. i was totally for Hillary despite Obama's star appeal.... but then came Sarah Palin. i abhor her and everything she stands for. i am incredibly disgusted by the level of PC that prevents people from stating the obvious, ie that she is an incredibly BAD mother and she gives women a bad name.. i mean WTF, going back to work after 3 DAYS of giving birth, exposing your pregnant 17 yo to national attentionand not being there for her while she needs you most... she keeps banging on about being a hockey mom but having delivered 5 children is not the same thing about being a good mum. she is also incredibly, scarily unqualified for the job. i cannot find one ounce of feminist feeling for her... and it makes me question my beliefs!

I think the kind of feminism that says the only reason women aren't in the boardroom is because men don't let them in, is just rubbish. Of course women make different choices to men for all sorts of reasons. Even before I had kids I didn't want to be like my boss, who said goodnight to her children over the phone more nights in the week than she did in person. She thrived on it, but I knew it would make me miserable. So I adapted what I did, and I'm not always Maria Von Trapp, but I couldn't face working the kind of anti-family hours that most really senior jobs demand.

Who cares if this SP person is a woman or a man.

Sp is unqualified for the job, and seems really dim-witted and aggressive also.

SP mentions her family and her role there because there isn't a hell of a lot else going on, bar the senseless shooting of animals, and the blatent support of environmental destruction of America's last wilderness.

Just a heart beat away..

I have no idea about qualifications though. HOw does one become qualified for VP - it's all admin isn;t it?

What she is I think is a masterstroke of marketing. They have picked her becasue she is so controvestial. I think they know they will loose but are making such an impact as will be remembered. Don't forget if Obama does get in he has a global recession to negotiate which means he won;t be in for long - along come McEtc just when it's due for an upturn and bobs y'unkle.

I think there is method in this madness. VPP will get loads of adfter dinner stuff from it. The publicity has made her!

and she won't be up for VP when they actually mean it!

One of the things that is worrying about this election campaign is that McCain is anywhere in the opinion polls. The Republicans have been incredibly unpopular for the last few years, and Bush is seen very very unfavourably. The Democrats should be a shoo in, but at the moment McCain and Obama are running neck and neck. Now who knows how the election itself will turn out, but don't assume that McCain/Palin are not a real ticket.

Its non of my business how she parents her children, I wish all of her children nothing but happiness and health, like I wish for every ones children.

It is my business that she is against abortion.
It is my business that she is against sex education.
It is my business that she is for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It is my business that she is against same sex marriage.
It is my business that she is for the right of using guns.
It is my business that if the Republicans win the American Election, its not just America they will have control of, but they will have the ear of the rest of the world, and that is a very dangerous position to hold if you are such radicals as the Republicans are.
I am not very eloquent I am afraid; but I do wish Hilary Clinton had won the Democratic vote, as I see her as the best of a bad bunch.

My apologies MT. I misread one of your statements (blame two hours sleep the previous night) - and no, you didn't say it was down to women's choices. I missed the "is" at the beginning of the sentence.

I haven't accused you of sexism either.

I think the trouble is that sexism is a loaded term. And does smack very much of oppression. And overt, conscious decision making. What I'm thinking about isn't that. It's constraints on how we think, and how we make decisions. Also on how we judge other people.

And I think there is an argument to be made that this is happening in the case of Sarah Palin.

Who is, to put in my usual, disclaimer, not a person I support in any way.

Nooka, I think the Democrats will get in in the US just as the Tories will get in here - it's time for a flip - that's the cycle, but whoever gets in will have a rough ride duriong the recession. That's my 'light; analysis on the subject

TFM, I seem to be having a convo with three people who seem to be picking up opne anothers torch after they drop it, you Athene and Dittany - sorry if I get confused!

It's interesting - can you expand a bit on what you mean by constraints on how we think, decide and judge?

I'm in and out today so will only be postiong sporadically,like yesterday.

I think the Rebulicans are going to get in. I think it will be close, but a lot of Hilary's supports are apparantly switching sides.

I am certainly going to punch the hole next to John McCain on my ballot. (which I would have done with or without Sarah Palin on the ticket)

I wonder if there are any other American Republicans in London?????

Am a member of Democrats Abroad, but if go to the Embassy web site, think there's info on Republicans Abroad...

agree with strummer

SOrry, I meant who are mumsnetter... I'm already a member of RA.

I'm not sure. I'm a member of Democrats Abroad as well (not that I do much about it as I'm a bit outside London).

so i take it you have the same values as Palin then, AN?

No. My political views are more in line with John McCain. He is the one I'll be voting for.

I don't think she is a loon, but I don't agree with her on all of the issues either. I am especially opposed to her view on abortion.

But Athene don't you find it worrying that he should have chosen someone with her views? Of all the potential candidates for VP for him to have picked such a traditionalist Republican surely says something about who he might pick for real office should he be elected? That's what I find worrying, because his appeal until now has not been the traditional one.

If picking SP as a running mate helps McCain to get into office, then I haven't got a problem with it. I do support some of her policies, just not all. She isn't perfect. But she and McCain are better than Biden and Obama (actually I must confess I know hardly anything about Biden).

But I am staunchly opposed to socialised medicine and higher taxes. So my vote is (and always was) on the Republican ticket.

I do think SP for VP was a stoke of marketing genius. I have to hand that to McCain.

The word 'socialized' is loaded.

Why is it here in the UK that even the most right wing Tories would not consider messing with the NHS, but in the US, any form of cooperation as far as medical care is deemed with suspicion?

Well obviously anything with a word that sounds like socialism has to be bad... Neither candidate are proposing anything that sounds vaguely like the NHS in any case - Obama is just talking about ways to increase the levels of insurance.

This is just so depressing...

Haven't read all the posts, but I agree with strummer a wee bit back.
I found it very patronising initially that the media suggested that she'd been picked in order to get the female vote now that Hillary's out of the race. It's even scarier though to think that people are actually going with that, and women are being taken in by it even if they don't agree with her policies .
On a lighter note DH did chortle when he saw John McCain greeting the daughter's boyfriend. As he said, imagine being 17, knocking up the girlfriend and then finding yourself on the world news. Bet he uses a condom next time

No he isn't. He is talking about huge tax increases to sponsor government run healthcare. Tax increases the tax payers can not afford -- especially not now in time of recession.

As a Republican I believe in small government. I believe government's function is to provide those things for the people which can not be provided by the people, such as the armed services or education. Healthcare need not be among them. I realise this will be a very unpopular view on this website. But I'm just adressing why I will vote republican since I was asked if a supported all of SP's views. I do not. But, I do support the core republican values (such as small governement) which she also supports.

That's interesting, but with the size of populations, how do people access health care if not facilitated by government?

Just to keep the feminist theme going; pregnant women on low incomes for example - rape and domestic violence victims? Women of low status and income?

The short answer is that people (including women) do not get healthcare if they are poor.

When Clinton was President, providing healthcare was a huge issue. The health insurance companies, who are the ones who would have the most to loose if a not for profit health care system was introduced, started putting out TV advertisements creating a climate of fear saying, 'Do you want the government interferring in your health?'

These words accompanied film of Soviet era, and of course the proposals didn't get through.