y control

Well this is, um, interesting.

McCain has picked Alaska governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. I understand this decision on a basic level; Palin supports drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, is a member of the NRA, and is by all accounts a God-fearing Republican.

This is all well and good, except for the fact it is so freaking obvious that Palin was chosen because she is a woman. In a bid to pull over the undecided Hillary Clinton voters (“Look! She has boobs!”) McCain has put aside his primary attack of the Obama campaign (experience) and picked a former small town mayor with two years of executive experience in ALASKA (Population: 670,053. The city of Chicago has four times the number of people.).

The assumption that women will jump ship and vote for McCain because THIS IS YOUR CHANCE to put a woman in the white house is downright insulting. I would prefer to wait for someone who shares my beliefs, thank you. The women who were voting for Hillary Clinton simply because she is a woman are feminists to their core. These women believe in equal pay for equal work, they believe in providing health care for those who need it most and in protecting a woman’s right to choose. Sure, there was an aspect of wishing to say “Madame President,” but at the end of the day these women are not interested in putting a woman into power if said woman is, well, Republican.

Okay, okay. I know there are Hillary supporters who are currently undecided. Who threaten to vote for McCain. These women are not going to be nudged to the right by the fact that Palin is female. These women maintain that they are either 1) Hillary Clinton (not Sarah Palin) fans to the death or 2) concerned about “experience.”

Speaking of experience… what? Who is this woman? How is she somehow more qualified than to be President than Barack Obama? I’m confused. This woman was mayor of a town (a town!) just a little larger than my college. Why didn’t McCain just pick my student body president? I am sure she would LOVE to be on the ticket. The White House can hold car washes to bring down the deficit!

Then again, this choice might be brilliant. She loves her family, goes to church, helps her community and cares about education. Sarah Palin will appeal to suburban soccer moms (just like her!) whose votes, you might recall, helped put Bush in office. Should the Democrats be worried?