What do we want?

Posted by Amanda in US Election 2008.

Perhaps my middle-class, well-educated upbringing gives me some sort of unique perspective, a political blindspot if you will. But I just do not understand why anyone would vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. To borrow Aaron Sorkin’s words from The American President, “these are serious times, and they require serious people.” We need a more thoughtful, more open-minded direction for this country. One that does not rely on gut instinct and red meat, partisan hackjobs and mud-slinging surrogates. I watched a great deal of both conventions in the last two weeks. And where the Democratic Convention made me feel hopeful and proud of my country, the Republican Convention left me cold, uninspired, and more than a little angry.

For the last several months, we’ve seen and heard from several of McCain’s advisors on a variety of issues. Phil Gramm, one of McCain’s economic advisors, said we were a nation of whiners, that our money troubles were a “mental recession.” John Goodman, author of McCain’s healthcare policy, stated that we all have access to healthcare - we can just go to the emergency room. If that’s the sort of people John McCain listens to, then with all due respect to his years of service, he’s gone off the deep end.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but my wallet seems tighter these days, and my dream of actually owning a home has been put on hold for a few more years. And if anyone thinks emergency rooms are going to solve our healthcare crisis, do they have another thing coming. Hospitals are over-crowded as it is. We hear stories on the news every day of people left in waiting rooms for hours who die of preventable and treatable diseases and injuries. In Baltimore last year, a young boy died of an infection caused by a cavity because he didn’t have dental insurance and his mom couldn’t afford to take him to the doctor. By the time it was bad enough that an ER doctor would look at the infection, it was too late to do anything.

That is what four years of McCain will bring us. The advice of people who haven’t had to struggle for anything, the apathy of a wealthy class who are secure in their own power, and a continued clinging to the ignorance of the past eight years. Ah, but Sarah Palin is the shining light of the GOP. She’s an agent of change and a new direction, you say? I beg to differ. Sarah Palin may have all the biological parts of a woman, but she sure seems bent on putting the rest of us back in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant. And the idea that she is knowedgeable enough to be a heartbeat from the Presidency is laughable.

Sarah Palin is a feminist’s nightmare. She’s anti-choice, even in cases where the vast majority of American’s would make an exception. She attempted to censor books from the public library as Mayor of Wasilla. She’s now tied herself to a Senator who has continuously voted against pro-women legislation like the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and a bill that would protect women from abusive husbands.

Sure, she can deliver a speech that someone else wrote. But she has yet to deal with the press directly and the campaign staff is sheltering her from all media personnel. Why? They say it’s because the media has been sexist in their handling of Palin thus far. I think the real reason is that she just isn’t ready yet. She’s getting a crash course in National and International policy, subjects she knows little about, while her surrogates claim that 20 months as governor of the 4th least populous state in America is all the executive experience she needs to be VP. Never mind that executive experience boils down to being in charge of an organization. Running a hugely successful national election campaign, for instance, is an example of executive experience.

But hey, they’ll trot out a few lines about how Obama’s time as a community organizer was nothing compared to being Mayor of Wasilla. Never mind that community organizers like Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and Rosa Parks all effected more positive changes than Palin could ever dream of. They’ll call Obama and Biden a pair of elitists. Never mind that elitism, according to Dictionary.com is consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group. Being well-educated? Not elitism. Putting thought into your decisions? Not elitism. Having nuanced policies that reflect more than the usual right vs. wrong mentality? NOT ELITISM.

Next the McCain camp will talk about how his time as a POW proves that he is more patriotic than Obama could ever be - and don’t forget that he used to not wear flag pins! Never mind that patriotism and criticism are not mutually exclusive. I am perfectly capable of loving my country and sharply criticising the current leadership.

And if that isn’t enough misdirection from the real issues, they’ll hit you with the real kicker and cry sexism. The GOP has a woman on their ticket this year, so they can do that now. Never mind that a pointed discussion of policy positions and experience is not sexism when the subject is a man. A pointed discussion of policy positions and experience is not sexism when the subject is a woman, either.

We all need to think long and hard about which way we cast our votes in two months. Do we vote for the guys who cynically believe that they can lie to the American people, that they can keep secrets and we won’t notice, that they can obfuscate the real discussions with soundbytes? Or do we vote for someone who may seem nebulous on policy but who gives real thought to every decision he makes, who takes the advice of experts to form complete opinions? I know where my vote is going.

US Election 2008 |