I am the youngest of six children. Hard-working blue-collar dad, stay-at-home mom. My four sisters and I all have masters-level degrees; my brother owns his own business. We live the American dream. And all of us - save one - is a loud and proud Democrat.
The "save one" is a hot shot partner at Big Law Firm in NYC. Single white female, no kids. Smart as a whip. She was a Democrat once upon a time - oh, the good ol' days of family unity - but 9-11 had a strange impact on her. She became a single-issue voter: stopping terrorists. But over the last seven years, she's slowly bought into the Repubs' party line. It's been sad and terrible to watch, as she gives us e-mail lectures on Republican doctrine. Actually, they should hire her; she's a gifted writer, and can actually make all that crap sound almost reasonable.
I'm not offering up her comment as "here's what the average person is thinking." My sister is anything but average - she'll actually benefit from the McCain tax cuts.
I thought she would see the light with the Palin pick. To our collective shock, she defended her as "the perfect pick" and evidence that "women can do anything." We just shook our heads.
I should know better than argue politics with her. But the NYT article was too good, and I forwarded her the link with the simple comment: "Still impressed?"
Take a minute to read her response. A couple of times.
Of course, I'm still impressed. She is an unbelievably able politician. Among other things, she has gotten into Obama's head, set up camp there, and made him and his campaign do insanely stupid things. We'll see if they recover their equilibrium (they have before), but there is no sign of it yet. Did you see Obama's ad about McCain's not knowing anything about the Internet and not being able to use e-mail?
Admit it, she's right. And then shake Sarah Palin out of your head. Be done with her. She is dead to you. The more you dwell on her, the worse you make it.
Heaven knows how hard this will be for me. I see Sarah Palin as a GIANT step backwards for women in the workplace. Just when we thought we had made it past "SuperMom" -- that doing it all matters more than doing a few things well -- she's brought it all back to the table. How can I convince the powers that be that women should have more than six weeks of maternity leave when Super Sarah went back to work three days after having her baby? As 40+ mother of two little kids who works full time (and notice what I put first - mother, not work), I have fought that battles, and want so much more for those who follow me....
But do you see what I just did? I bought into their culture war! I'm focusing on bringing her down - not lifting us up. Take the no-Palin pledge:
I will not write or read anything more about Sarah Palin. I will not watch interviews. I will not debate her merits (or lack thereof) with others. I will get her out of my head.
And the donate $25 to the Obama campaign to seal the deal.