The conservatives in this country want me to like Sarah Palin because she’s “real”: a working wife and mother struggling to make it all work. They need us to focus on her personal life—while consistently objecting to us focusing on it!—because she doesn’t very have much political record for us to consider (though what there is should scare us all to blazes) and because she’s too chickenshit to have done even one media interview since McCain named her as his VP pick ten days ago. (The poor dear can’t handle reporters? Not even Fox? For heaven’s sake, I think I’ve done more national media than Palin! And I assure you, I am NOT ready to be vice president!)

But OK, I’ll take the bait. Let me think aloud here about how I relate to the “real” aspects of Sarah Palin’s life, namely the family-work juggle, since I’ve written extensively about this before. (See below for some links on my writing on work and home life.)

Last week school started here. Since the deal my mate and I have is that he pays the bills and I do pretty much what I want while providing primary childcare, I had to fill out the usual gazillion forms (and fill them all out exactly as I had every previous year), go to Target and spend over an hour getting all the things my son’s teacher requires, arrange to deliver the hamster we were caring for back to its teacher-owner, research with my son a hooded rat as a replacement pet for us, get all the stuff my kid needs for after-school soccer, re-arrange the piano lessons to fit the soccer schedule...

And I also started tackling the great challenge of balancing my husband’s work schedule, my travel schedule, and my son’s schedule. This involves large numbers of helpful neighbors, relatives, and sitters.

I’m guessing the Vice President is going to travel more than me. Palin’s husband works outside the home, too. They have four minor children to my one, including a baby with Down Syndrome and a pregnant teen, soon to be a teen mother. So I found myself trying to figure out how exactly they are going to make this work. And I find myself turning...conservative. Starting to sound like Dr. Laura even. Who is watching the kids? Who is tending their emotional and physical scrapes, keeping in touch with their teachers, making sure they eat right?

Am I sexist because I don’t think about this with Obama, who also has minor children? Actually, I do think about this with Obama, and did even before Palin was named McCain’s choice. My partner can tell you, when Obama’s daughter asked him, by satellite feed, “What city are you in tonight, Daddy?” and lots of people thought that was cute, I turned to my mate and said, “Ugh, those kids need their father.” But at least he has a partner taking the bulk of the childcare. Does Palin?

So how are the Palins going to manage? How are they managing now? Well, their teenage daughter is pregnant by a jerk. So I’m thinking they are not managing. I kinda wish every time someone talks about Trig as a “special needs” child, they mentioned the obvious: that Bristol is also a “special needs” child who has not had her special needs addressed by her parents.

Do I think Sarah Palin should be forced to stay home with her kids? No way! But I do think the party that keeps talking about “family values” should at least pick someone who demonstrates what they claim we should all be doing.

Last week, I said to my husband we should reach out and offer Bristol a place to live, so she doesn’t have to marry that awful guy and make her life even more of a mess. Watching Bristol, I have been reminded of the time my parents took in a pregnant young woman, so she wouldn’t abort her pregnancy. (My parents were and are Pro-Lifers.) My husband said absolutely, if Bristol wants to come live with us, she can. As far as we are concerned, she can decide whether to keep her child or put it up for adoption, and she can go have sex, right after we give her some basic education about and access to disease prevention and birth control.

So I guess the Palin pick is not making me totally conservative. Though economically, again I look at Palin and feel conservative by comparison. Look at what Palin has done to Wasilla, the city of which she was mayor. I again find myself relating to this personally because in the last few years I’ve become involved in our city politics. What a mess Palin has left for Wasilla! No debt before, and now a huge debt plus a legal mess. Small town values: giant debt and eminent domain? Ugh.

How the heck did all this happen? How does Palin appeal to so many conservatives when it’s obvious she’s all bluster and no beef?

Do I wish we had a woman as VP or, better yet, P? Sure! But having a woman doesn’t mean having a feminist, and what I’d much rather have is a feminist, even if he has a penis. Let me just say what we’re all thinking:

Palin was obviously chosen for her vagina, not for her brain.

That’s just stupid sexism, and no woman should be fooled by it. Clearly McCain does not get that affirmative action is supposed to be used to boost qualified candidates. Sarah Palin is profoundly unqualified to be Vice President of the United States. Moreover, she  is a dangerous, BS’ing bully who foists upon us values and ideals to which she does not even hold herself.

(September 8, 2008)

Relevant links:

1. ‣On why electing a woman isn’t good enough: The Difference between Feminism and Identity Politics
   

2. ‣On being a working mother: The True Story of Dr. Mom
   

3. ‣On managing life and work: My Favorite Pot
   

4. ‣On giving up tenure (and daring to do motherhood and, shame on me, community organizing!): Why ‘One Foot In’?
   

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