Conversation about Politics, via email
With my dear friend, who shall remain nameless, because I didn’t ask her permission to post this. This is from an email conversation we had yesterday.
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DEAR FRIEND OF MINE:
Hey darling,
I had a great time a dinner too. I am glad you love me because of what I am about to say. I really like Palin. I appreciate the fact of her trying to raise a child with special needs and being a working mom. She had gotten a lot of flack and people have said how could she possibly be Vice-Pres with a small child but give me a break, how long has everyone said women should be allowed to work! And the thing about her teenage daughter, yes she is pregnant and should have used birth control but how do we know she did not? I have heard of condoms breaking and women getting pregnant on the pill. I agree the stuff with her brother-in-law is sketchy.
Still love me?
ME:
My opinion is, like her for who she is, for those things that you mentioned…but do you agree with her policies? Is she the right person to be President should McCain (who is 72 and has suffered cancer before, I think) die in office? I don’t think so, and it’s not because of her being a working mom or because her daughter got pregnant. It’s because she is ultra conservative, and I think she would bring her faith into the Oval Office. I don’t think it belongs there. Leave politics out of church, and religion out of politics, that’s my way of thinking. 😉
Being the mom of a special needs child, she could do a lot of work to bring awareness to that cause, if she so chose. She has the power to do that. Being the mom of a pregnant teen, she can bring awareness to her beliefs on abstinance only education if she so chooses.
She may be a hell of a woman to hang out with (though she gets up and lies to us), but I haven’t heard a single word come out of her mouth that makes me think she would be a good President.
I kind of think that electing someone that we would want to hang out with has gotten us into the trouble we’re in today. People said they would rather hang out with Bush than Gore, because he seemed more fun. I don’t want a president who’s fun. I have you for that. I want a President who will make responsible decisions, based on what is truly best for our country, not based on their big business cronies, or based on whether they think that abortion should be illegal, or whether they think that evolution should be taught in science class, or whether they think kids should get sex education at school. Are McCain and Palin the right person for the job in any of these respects? Not in my opinion. Her kids have absolutely nothing to do with it.
That’s my two cents. And whether you agree with me or not, I’ll always love you.
DEAR FRIEND OF MINE:
I agree with everything you are saying but the press ALWAYS focuses on her or her family not her politics and that drives me crazy! Thanks for loving me!
ME:
The press sucks!
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Wonder which way she’ll end up voting in November? Wonder why everyone wants to talk about whether it’s OK for her to leave her kids at home or not, rather than talking about what the candidates will do to help our economy, and to repair our Constitution? These are issues I want to hear about. Sure, it’s titillating to hear gossip about the pregnant teen of someone who doesn’t want sex-education in our schools, but that’s not the most important issue on the table. Not by far.
p.s., for an in depth idea of one pretty big issue that the politicians SHOULD be discussing, check out Ted’s blog post, here. Hint: It’s the economy, stupid. And it’s not getting better quickly. (Almost makes me wish McCain would win, because I’m thinking whomever is our next prez will take the heat as things continue to tank, even though they will have inherited it from BushCo. Almost, but not really.)
12 Comments
Ted
My view (and I already told you this at breakfast) is to focus on Palin’s “executive” experience (i.e., the policies she supported as a governor and mayor). That’ll tell you how she’d govern if she has to assume the powers of the presidency. Be critical of her record (which is not sexism, as many on the Right have said), and see how she explains herself when it comes to decisions she’s made and actions she’s taken as an elected official. Obama, McCain and Biden have had their records scrutinized, so why not Palin?
joan
It is a weird situation. I’ve heard good and bad comments about her from people around me but their remarks had nothing to do with her views. I got into a discussion with our local morning dj about Palin during a football tailgater. He and several other guys think she’s hot. I admit a little bit of me is happy about this considering I’m a mother and the same age she is. Otherwise it’s pretty stupid. The negatives were from other women (and I posted about this) putting her down for working especially with a special needs child and having a teenage daughter pregnant. Again nothing about what she stands for. It’s scary. I hope people are more informed at election time. I support the right for people to vote for either candidate but folks at least know what it means if they are elected!
Jessica
Man, I am so tempted to post a political e-mail exchange between me and a friend as well re: Palin.
Love your response.
Autumn's Mom
It’s good to hear what people are talking about…but I agree that we need to focus on all the candidates records. I have more to say, but I’m all tongue tied now! haha Basically it was something to the effect of can you imagine if every woman had to quit their job because of “family issues”??? Sigh
Jimmy
Well…….you know where I stand. We’re on opposite sides of the fence but your still my blog buddy and I respect your views.
It’s funny that most of my personal friends are GOP and my blogger buddies are Dems?
(un)relaxeddad
From a not-so-safe-distance, I find the whole business quite bizarre. And the effect she’s had on McCain’s standing in the polls is equally odd. Must be an awful lot of voters looking for an excuse to duck change and what better than the same old stories dressed up as change? But then, we north Europeans will never understand the continuing link between religion and state in the US.
Rain
The whole thing is very weird to me. I can’t understand voting on skin color or gender. To me, you vote on character and issues. When someone supported Hillary but now supports Palin,I know they didn’t care about the issues. It was all about them. It’s amazing to me. How does it make a woman in Pennsylvania superior for having a woman as veep or president? What does it do for her life? It impacts her through that leader’s issues and that’s what everyone should be looking at. What issues matter to your life and what stand do the various candidates have on them? What is the likelihood then can do something about the problems we face? That’s what matters but not to a lot of people. The very ones who earlier thought a personality cult was bad when it was Obama but now is good when it’s either McCain or Palin. It scares me actually because where it’s going is not good for the average person.
MRMacrum
It is somewhat amusing to me that we might have a president elected solely because his ticket mate is popular. I wonder how John really feels about this? Or is he just peeing his pants over the possibility of replacing Bush behind the big desk?
I am not puzzled about the focus on vacuous and empty issues like Palin’s family life. It’s what the entertainment industry does and has done for, well forever. They know what to spoon feed us. They know what we want. Pretty women wearing lipstick for the guys and a sad mom story for the ladies. This should be a sitcom.
MsMamma
In our culture, I think most sheep have been brainwashed willingly to vote for people based on personality issues or looks, not talent, intelligence or beliefs. Like it or not, elections have become a heinous version of American Idol.
Gina
I don’t like anything about her.
Especially her policies.
But, many people aleady know this! 😉
Lalunas
This is a very heated election. Each side ( Demo/Repub) of the population have some very strong opinions
donna
I could care less about her family. But I don’t want people who don’t understand basic economic issues, national security issues, foreign policy issues, etc, in the White House, and she has proven over and over that she doesn’t understand those issues. Her use of her offices for personal vendettas also really bothers me.
Economically, McCain/Palin would be a disaster. I trust Obama’s economic policy advisors far more, and respect them.