Because I still can't sleep, I'm going to share some post-midnight musings:
Palin looks an awful lot like Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro, as we all know, was the first woman to run for vice president on a major party's ticket back in 1984. She was selected by Walter Mondale, who knew he stood no chance of defeating Ronald Reagan and wanted his campaign to be historic. So he picked a woman VP.
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It was a bad choice, frankly. Ferraro wasn't ready for prime time. She wasn't a good campaigner. Her background wasn't fully investigated. All anyone heard during the campaign was the scandals. She actually wound up hurting Mondale, and not because she was a woman (or at least not just because she was a woman).
But you know what? At the time, she was probably one of the best qualified women candidates around. She'd been a Congresswoman from New York for six years, and had little experience in government prior to that, having worked as a teacher, lawyer, and for the D.A.'s office. It was an okay resume, but if she had been a man, she never would have been chosen. She was picked for gender, and gender alone.
Palin also has a decent resume, but not one that would have earned her a second glance if she was a man. Mayor for six years. Governor for a year and a half. Not a bad record, but what man would be considered for the job having done no more than that?
Has her background been fully investigated? I think not. Even at the end of the first day, I've seen enough on her to think that she could be eaten alive by the press, unless they decide to softball her. Democrats could have a lot of fun with it - some of the copy writes itself. (Can't you just hear Hillary saying: "When Bush took office, he inherited a large surplus. He cut taxes and increased spending. As any school child could have predicted, he ran up trillions of dollars in debt. As mayor of Wasilla, Palin cut taxes, increased spending, and ran up $20 million in debt. No wonder John McCain thinks she's ready to be president. Her fiscal record looks an awful lot like George W. Bush's.")
The big difference is that this isn't 1984. There isn't a short supply of women elected officials with enough experience to make them serious candidates. I can think of Republican women who would make much more serious VP candidates without a second's thought: Olympia Snowe, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Susan Collins, Elizabeth Dole.
A token candidate is no longer enough. In fact, it's an insult. Giving a woman a job just because she's a woman isn't a favor, and it's not necessary. Women don't need charity to reach high office, women don't need to be judged by lower standards. Women can earn their place for themselves.