... then she's good enough to have a free-flowing debate with Joe Biden.
It seems that the McCain campaign has been fearful/over protective of VP Candidate Sarah Palin. Restricting her interviews, not allowing her to answer questions at public appearances, and carefully selecting who gets to interview her (Gibson, Hannity, and Couric), may be a sly political campaign strategy to up her knowledge on world events and give her time to practice to hone her skills for the next month and a half. Or, may it be another, more cynical reason? Is it because she's a woman and they simply don't trust her?
It's been clear, since the moment that Hillary Clinton announced her presidency, that sexism abounds n the United States. Hillary Clinton, speaking in New Hampshire, interrupted by a couple of hecklers with a sign that said "IRON MY SHIRT". Hillary, ever the politician, laughed off the event, saying that "remnants of sexism were alive and well". After the men were removed, she said, "As I think has been abundantly demonstrated, I am also running to break through the highest and hardest glass ceiling."
The kicker was, after this event, I didn't hear one reporter ask the question that popped into my mind. "So, Mrs. Clinton, how did it feel to have that happen to you?". How does it feel to be reduced simply to a sex, or a race, or a sexual identity, or a handicap, or an age, discounting all of the parts of that person's being? Nope, the media didn't want to know. Perhaps those questions are a Pandora's Box which no one wanted to open. But wouldn't that event be the most apropos opportunity to begin a national dialogue on how we view women in America?
This all leads me to reflect also on the Republican VP candidate Ms. Palin. Lambasted recently for failing to cooperate in her Alaskan troopergate scandal, trying to assume a time-demanding job with a little baby, and several errors of fact she spoke of from the campaign pulpit, Palin has had a rough road.
My question is, does the McCain campaign's protection of their VP candidate smack of sexism? Is it that they don't trust her enough to go against some of our country's best politicians and reporters? Wouldn't it be better for her, and then for women in general, to have her go against some of people and prove her mettle? If she's good enough to be a vice-presidential candidate, then she's good enough to "Face the Nation" or "Meet the Press" and have America truly see where she's coming from. Give her the same treatment you would any male candidate, and permit her to show to us her strength and determination and will.
In the meanwhile, we'll just have to speculate and wonder how much steel she has ... under the intense questioning of Katie Couric.