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!

Sarah Palin is a barmpot. I wouldn't vote for her.

But the comment "What happens if something happens to MaCain if she is pregnant?" is almost as shocking as some of the things she has come out with frankly.

And if her family and career choices make the OP question her feminist beliefs then I have to wonder just what those beliefs actually are.

Exactly pigleto, both parties will be voted for on what they can do for the voters...not vice versa.
I do think her background is cool though. I think everyone should know how to handle a gun, etc. as well as doing launder and being able to do what is considered "duties of the feminine".
I think it is great to have women in power. I don't agree with SP on her viewpoints and therefore she isn't the woman I would choose. I didn't choose her though, the Rep party did and they will have to deal with her. If they get elected then everyone will have to deal with her.

I guess the real interest in the VP here here is that whoever McCain chose to be his running mate is in with a real chance of having to run the country at some point during the term, be it on a temporary (because POTUS is ill, as McCain has been) or permanent (if the President dies) basis.

Biden, on the other hand, is unlikely to outlive Obama.

Dittany - it absolutely does matter that she and her policies come under scrutiny, because if M'Cain gets elected but dies suddenly or is taken ill, she will be the de facto President of the United States of America. A pitbull with lipstick. Her words.

What came through to me from her speech was how obsessed everyone seemed with the military, Our Troops, bringin' Freedom, etc., etc., as if she needed to bang on about how America is the goddam saviour of the goddam world again. She just seemed to go on about it for ever. And the audience was full of planted people from the services.

I'm not going to get into anti-militarist stuff because that has been discussed on here before ans I know there are people's DHs and so on out there doing a good job, but, Jeeeeeesus! All right! We know you love your boys in Eye-rack, but shut up about it for two seconds, woman!

I was trying to imagine a Labour or Conservative party conference full of cheering soldiers, sailors and airmen and I think I got +++does not compute+++.

dittany, Her little sister was present at the time of the tasering. You would have to look it up in the washington paper. I googled it to find it. They all knew about it, laughed about it etc. It was after when they divorced that all this is getting dredged up again. They divorced in 2005 (according to this article). Plenty of time for the Governor to take appropriate measures.
Besides, her little sister and ex bl are in a custody battle now. I would think this would be grounds for her winning if there was anything to it. Guess not.
No one is trying to convince you to vote for anyone. The arguments are already out there. You are entitled to your opinions as everyone else is entitled to theirs.

I don't think we can assume that as a VP she won't have any power, and therefore elect any old person to do that job.

I, too, don't care how she raises her family or whether her son is her son, her grandson or her nephew twice removed. If she lies in public office, I care. And if she does her job badly, I care.

I care about her ability to do the job and about her politics, which frankly scare me. But then all Republicans scare me.

Concentrate on her views and her political stance.
Do not judge her parenting skills and her role as a parent as anything to do with her ability to be a VP.
No-one would judge any male candidate on the things the OP judged SP on.
Have we progressed in equality atall in the last 40 years
and yes, very unsisterly
PS xenia for VP candidate [cheering emotion]

Nah. Xenia took two weeks off wok after having her children.

Wuss.

I wonder if this is one of her favourite programmes...

No thanks. Xenia's regime would involve all new mothers being frogmarched back to full-time employment the moment they no longer needed maternity pads.

Not with the twins. I was taking calls within 24 hours....but that's by the by. The problem is the intense sexism within so very many women in the UK and men is coming out hecause of this. At heart most of you think it's fine for men to work and have babies but not women. That's the nub of it and it shows we haven't really got started on eradicating sexism. How complains about Tony Blair working when Leo was a baby? No one because he happens to hae a penis so we're happy with him working. As soon as someone is female and they choose to work they're criticised. Sexist to the core.

These are much more interesting than SP's political views and the stupidity of many Americans.

Then I happily retract the wuss remark then Xenia.

24 hours, and after twins.

Palin clearly a lightweight.

Exactly [round of applause]
I feel like starting a thread asking whether Joe Biden was suitable to be democratic VP candidate because he still went to work after his first wife and child were killed in a car crash and the other child was looked after by his sister.
It does make me cross

And exactly how does having children and being a woman make you unsuitable to make major decisions?
I sometimes feel very weary when I hear these views expressed by other women and by those probably younger than myself

It's a slightly different slant now though I think. It used to be that as a woman you were somewhat irrational and prone to hormonally-led decision-making.

Now you are accused of being a Bad Mother. The ultimate female crime.

I think it is perfectly fair game to look at all aspects of all candidates. As SP markets herself on being a "hockey mom" she herself is bringing her parenting role to the public arena. But American politics is very very personality based. Policies seems secondary. Waht saddens me is that McCain was not able to propose his favoured candidates for VP because they were seen as Pro-Choice, which is a bad thing in Republican politics. Now he has someone who seems a direct contrast not to the Democrats, but to himself. She is clearly a better speaker, which makes him seem old and boring; she is a social conservative, he is a liberal; she has generated loads of dosh for Alaska, he is for reform etc etc

Sure she is going to appeal to the republican core, but this choice will alienate many of the Democrats and independants he needs to win over. It's sad to see the things that made him a different sort of candidate get swept away.

" I used to think that as women we ought to support other women to almost unreasonable levels."

That is highly dubious

As for Hilary C - so is she

lol SmallwhiteCat - "How she brings up her children is none of my business. We rarely query a male politician's worth as a parent."

Except she brought it into the publc arena so it is anyones business.

I agree with the OP - except with the idea that women should blindly support other women. Support them if you agree with them.

oh ffs, can we stop this collective delusion about male politicians not playing the family card. They do, all the time.

"At heart most of you think it's fine for men to work and have babies but not women. "

Study the boards Xenia. That, to put it mildly, is a crock.

Wtf is a 'hockey mom' anyway??

I hate myself for asking because I'm so fed up with this being banged on about every 2 minutes on the news.