The Political Voices of Women

 Here is a guest post by community member Deb Della Piana from Turn Left.

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The Republicans love distractions. It’s one of the little touches that Karl Rove brought to the GOP. And we all know, of course, that he’s involved in the McCain campaign. Distraction is one of the reasons why John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. Why deal with the real issues, like the sad state of the economy, our broken health care system, or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when he can get you caught up in Palin’s personal family drama? There’s wasn’t much substance at the GOP convention. In fact, the McCain strategists have openly stated that they don’t want this election to be about issues. They want it to be about personality. The basic plan is to wrap John McCain in a giant American flag and paint him as a true American hero. First, a little tribute to John McCain, the POW. Then, evoke a few 9-11 images strictly for political purposes. We had the usual cast of characters at Tuesday’s spectacle – Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and even Joseph Lieberman – but McCain’s new running mate stole the show.

Sarah Palin, that little breath of fresh air, made her debut on Wednesday night. While the Republicans positively gushed over her performance (at least publicly), she was less than honest about many things. Oh, what the hell, she’s supposedly likable and Americans have been lied to for so long they can no longer tell truth from fiction. There’s a thing called perception, loosely defined as a mental image. There’s another thing called reality, loosely defined as an actual fact. There’s a lot of perception vs. reality going on with Sarah Palin. Let’s take a closer look.

Perception: Sarah Palin is a reformer who has stood up to special interests. According to Palin, she said ‘thanks but no thanks’ to Congress on the Bridge to Nowhere. She also took credit for being a champion of reform when it comes to Congress’ wasteful spending on earmarks.

Reality: Sarah Palin originally supported funding for the $398 million Bridge to Nowhere, a bridge that connects Ketchikan to Gravina Island (Pop: 50; with an airport). She did not withdraw her support until it became the subject of ridicule. She must have conveniently forgotten that little detail. As Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin hired Steven Silver, Ted Stevens’ former chief of staff, to lobby Congress for earmarks. He came away with about $27 million in federal money, more than any other state.

Perception: Sarah Palin’s experience rivals (or eclipses) that of Barack Obama.

Reality: Sarah Palin has been governor of Alaska since 2006. Prior to that she was the part-time mayor of Wasilla City, Alaska, population 9000. She was also a member of the Wasilla City Council (and, of course, the PTA). Barack Obama has been the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois since 2005. He was also a member of the Illinois State Senate from 1996-2004. Nope. This is not quite the same. Sorry, Mr. Rove, but no amount of spin can even up this score.

Perception: Barack Obama has not authored one single piece of major legislation, not even in the state senate. Actually, this was an outright lie told by Sarah Palin in her acceptance speech. It wasn’t the only one either.

Reality: Barack Obama has worked with Republican Senator Richard Lugar to pass legislation to expand efforts to intercept weapons of mass destruction and to destroy stockpiles of conventional weapons. As a state senator, Obama sponsored a bill to study racial profiling by police, as well as a bill that ordered interrogations in potential death penalty cases be recorded.

Perception: According to Mrs. Palin, Barack Obama only uses the word victory when he’s referring to his presidential campaign, but not when he talks about the war in Iraq. This was a second outright lie. (Hey, she fits right in now.)

Reality: Barack Obama has used the word ‘victory’ several times when talking about the war in Iraq. The only reason Palin can’t get her arms around this one is that he’s not talking about a victory brought about by utilizing weapons or bombs.

Perception: Sarah Palin is just an ordinary hockey mom; she’s just like us; she’s ‘everywoman.’

Reality: No. She’s not just like us. Palin is a pro-lifer who believes that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. She is against abortion, even in the case of rape or incest. Palin also believes that creationism (intelligent design) should be taught in school as part of the science curriculum. Finally, she doesn’t believe that the behavior of human beings impacts the environment. No doubt there are some out there who share Palin’ s ideology. However, I do not believe that she reflects the values of the majority of American women. She’s the non-thinking-woman’s woman, a throwback to the paleozoic era.

Perception: Sarah Palin wants Bristol’s pregnancy kept private because it’s a family matter.

Reality: If Sarah Palin wanted to handle Bristol’s pregnancy like a private family matter, she wouldn’t have brought the baby’s father along to the Republican convention for show. The reality is that Sarah Palin is using Bristol’s pregnancy for political purposes. Displaying Bristol and her future husband allows Palin to tout her anti-abortion, pro-family stance and ingratiate herself to the right wingers that John McCain has identified as the most important audience in this election. When the media raises the issue, McCain and Company then go ahead and bash the media. Sarah Palin can’t have it both ways. If she’s going to bring Bristol’s pregnancy front and center, it’s going to be a topic for the media (and rightly so).

Perception: Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air that is going to help John McCain change America.

Reality: The propaganda that Palin is a bright, shiny new entity coming to Washington with a clean slate is another lie. She is under investigation in her own state for abuse of power, accused of using her office to settle a family score in a divorce case. These allegations are not going away. In fact, Palin has just hired a lawyer to defend herself. Of course, I haven’t seen the mainstream news media make this connection yet, but Sarah Palin was one of the original founders of Senator Ted Stevens 527 corporate slush fund, which skirts around the fringe of the campaign finance laws and allows Stevens to raise exorbitant amounts of money from big oil and other corporate interests.

Sarah Palin aside, all of this starts with Senator McCain and his own set of perception-reality issues. Contrary to the perception he’s trying to create, John McCain is anything but an agent of change. He has voted in line with George W. Bush 95% of the time, so that notion is foolish. He avoids taking public positions because all of them either continue or expand upon George Bush’s unpopular, failed policies. His choice of Sarah Palin even calls into question his judgment. By all accounts, McCain wanted Joseph Lieberman, the Democrats’ own Benedict Arnold, as his running mate. The right wingers did not. Enter Sarah Palin. Although McCain claims to put country first, the fact is that he did not put America first in this instance. He put winning first.

Don’t ever worry about Sarah Palin not being completely vetted. She was. John McCain put that responsibility in the hands of a right-wing group called The Council for National Policy, a secretive right-wing group that networks wealthy right-wing donors with ultra-conservative operatives. So intent are they to advance their agenda that nothing but Palin’s ideology mattered to them. The fact that John McCain would capitulate to such a group and choose a candidate already under investigation for corruption is nothing short of disgusting. It reveals his true ambition to win at all costs and his utter disregard for what is best for this country.