This diary may not be what you expect from the headline. The GOP has had a lot of fun calling anyone who dares ask a potential Vice President of the United States a few questions to see if maybe kinda she can do the job a sexist. It's also clear the Obama campaign has been wrestling with how to respond to this. Do they ignore her and risk her changing the whole election by firing up the base and convincing swing voters to go against their own best interests? Or, do they go after her, hoping that the truth will drown out the sexism charges? But there's a third way, and I wonder if Obama has begun to go in this direction.
Check out this quote from Obama Indiana:
"I know the governor of Alaska has been, you know, saying she is change," Obama said at a town hall meeting here. "And that is great. She is a skillful politician. But when you [have] been taking all these earmarks when it is convenient and then suddenly you are the champion anti-earmark person.
"That is not change, come on," Obama continued. "I mean, words mean something. You can’t just make stuff up. You can’t just make stuff up. We have a choice to make and the choice is clear."
http://www.politico.com/...
Obama is definitely taking a risk here. The GOP has made it clear that if you treat Palin like an actual candidate for elective office, you're a sexist pig. Either Obama's foolish here by inviting a direct attack on him, or cagey. Time will tell, but I hope it's the latter.
Here's the third way I mentioned up above. Go after Palin on a legitimate issue, expecting to be called a sexist. Then come back and with passion, ask the American people what's really sexist.
Which candidate feels women don't deserve the right to determine what happens to their own bodies?
Which candidate feels women don't deserve equal pay with men?
Which candidate has no answers for the million of women without healthcare, or without decent healthcare, who must worry that each sniffle from their children could spell financial doom for their whole family?
Which candidate is the darling of a party that consistently votes against children's health care, against the minimum wage, against family leave, etc. etc. etc.
Obama has a chance to turn the sexism charge around on the GOP while bringing the debate back to the issues that matter. It fits squarely with Biden's attack yesterday about how the RNC said nothing about the middle class. Will it work? Beats me. But it might be better than sitting by hoping Palin implodes.