Hey McCain/Palin, Women Want Answers!

While watching the speech last night by VP Republican nominee Sarah Palin, all I could think was "What is your stance on the issues that relate to me -as a woman?". I did not get any answers, just lots of campaign rhetoric. I previously posted on MOMocrats questioning why the McCain/Palin website has no section on women's issues (but the Obama/Biden website does), and on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog I suggested to McCain that he not play the mom card.

Amy from "Women Want Answers" commented back to me with a link to her post: "The campaign promises to women that McCain and Obama have made--thus far". In that post, she compares the policies/issues displayed thus far for both candidates. There were lots of empty spaces when it came to the McCain/Palin side. Oh, except for the juicy tidbit that Roe v. Wade should be overturned and they will  appoint judges who will do so.  I could add something to fill up that empty space, McCain voted against teen-pregnancy prevention programs that would have included sex education about contraceptives while Palin opposed funding sexual-education programs in Alaska. Okay, I won't go there......

MomsRising.org requested that their members ask Gov. Palin where she stands on critically important issues to mothers by signing a letter. MomsRising even developed Bingo Cards to evaluate the candidates from a moms' point of view. If you try to access the MomsRising, it may not work - they received such a big response to their call to action that their website crashed!

I wonder if McCain will address any women's issues in his speech at the RNC convention tonight? Or will he just throw up more cards to hide his real extremist views?

Comments

[cynematic]

"Maverick" = flake.

I refuse to live in 1936. Because that's where he'd take us on issues that matter to women.

[beff]

What about an issue that matters to a lot of us mothers--will McCain/Palin institute a draft? I have 2 teens--a son and a daughter. Would girls be fair game as well? Why isn't anyone asking MCCain this? It seems a huge issue to me.

[jason]

A very compelling view of how even many republicans think..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrG8w4bb3kg

[San Antonio Lawyer]

I agree that McCain should answer the issues that matters to mothers like me.

[Mom101]

And the answer was...no.

It's easy to say "we're the party for women." It's hard to actually BE the party for women.

[SarahE]

Arianna Huffington gets it right again..."But for the American people to buy into the notion that McCain, who has raced to Bush's side on tax cuts, on off shore drilling -- even on torture -- is this campaign's agent of change, it's going to require an incredible suspension of disbelief. Or a serious case of amnesia.

And this is clearly McCain's campaign strategy: inducing amnesia about the past and confusion about the future, attempting to hoodwink the American people about what he has become. Which is where Sarah Palin comes in. As a major distraction. In the effort to divert attention from the matter at hand -- McCain's embrace of all things Bush -- Palin is the perfect storm.

Americans love the outsider plucked from obscurity. And Palin provides bucketfuls of the new and exciting. As long as voters and the media are caught up in the latest installment of As Sarah Turns or the Alaska version of All My Children, they aren't paying attention to the lack of solutions McCain is offering to the serious crises that face us.

Forget worrying about the economy or health care or the housing crisis -- think about how many people live in Wasilla, whether Bristol and Levi will live happily ever after, and if Sarah and her "First Dude" really want Alaska to secede from the union.

This is why the McCain campaign wants Palin front and center -- did you notice how much time McCain spent during the speech praising Palin and how quickly the celebratory post-speech music shifted from "Raisin' McCain" to "Barracuda"?

And it's why Democrats need to ignore Palin, and keep the focus on reminding voters about the stark contrast between an Obama and a McCain administration. It's tempting to prime the Palin attack pump. But Obama and the Democrats do so at their own peril.

John McCain wants to distance himself from Bush, cloud the huge policy differences between him and Obama, and hope his compelling life story carries the day. Obama's job is to make sure he doesn't get away with it. Forgetting Sarah Palin is a good place to start."

Amen!