Palin Insights

There is so much to say about Palin and what a farce and a travesty she is, but many people have said much more insightful things than I can, so I'd rather that they speak for themselves. Here are a couple of observations from readers of Andrew Sullivan:

First:

The shocker is not that Palin was chosen, or that she turns on Rich Lowry. (Let's face it: Palin is incredibly attractive, she uses her sex appeal to make straight men wither, women have been using that strategy since Cleopatra, and men will continue to cave in to such tactics until at least the next Ice Age.) The real shocker is that conservative Republicans -- after 8 years of George Bush -- are *again* willing to put all their hopes into a charismatic, folksy leader who is ideologically rigid and intellectually stupid. With her complete inability to express herself on complex issues, and her willingness to mask that with folksy charm and talking points, Palin is a carbon-copy of W.

Wouldn't you think that conservatives would be more wary of her after seeing the destruction that George Bush has wrought? The fact that they splash Palin's picture on the cover of the National Review with the words "The One," while knowing full well she lacks any intellectual fortitude and will therefore require a shadow presidency (is Todd Palin the next Dick Cheney?), tells me it will take a deeper collapse of America's foundations for conservatives to realize that this strategy is, has been, and always will be, fundamentally flawed.

And another reader:

Really any woman who considers herself a conservative or identifies with the Republican party should be embarrassed by Sarah Palin. Seriously, this is the female face of the party. The debate was a joke, setting the bar so low that as long as she didn't drool all over herself it's considered a victory. That is what Republican women should be proud of? Her winking and talking "folksy", you betcha goshdarnit, that's the way the party wants to represent itself to the country and the world?

The fact that so many other qualified women in the party, like Olympia Snowe (whom I admire greatly), Kay Baily Hutchinson, Christie Todd Whitman (my former governor) are able to communicate and connect with the American people, were passed over for this disaster of a candidate, is greatly disheartening to me as a young woman. Say what you want about Hillary Clinton, but she didn't ask to be treated differently. She was able to take on the big boys and even throw some elbows, too. I just can't believe this is the example that the Republicans want to set for the future and for young women especially.