Today John McCain announced that his vice presidential running mate is Sarah Palin, current governor of Alaska. Now, keep in mind that I don't know much of anything about her or even about the campaign, but here are my thoughts on it anyhow.
The first thing I wondered when I heard the news was, of course, "Who's Sarah Palin?" which is probably the same question most everyone outside of Alaska asked themselves, I'm sure. The second was, "Why Sarah Palin?" Is this simply John McCain's answer to the Democratic Party's African-American presidential nominee? They've got an historical first, now I've got to have one, too? To listen to Sean Hannity (who I don't not endorse, by the way), Sarah Palin's a perfect selection and John McCain couldn't have done better (of course, Sean Hannity is unbelievably conservative and anti-liberal, so take everything he says with a grain of salt - or a bucket of it).
My next questions is this: Is there anything wrong with McCain picking a running mate simply because she's a woman (if that was, indeed, the case)? Some would say good for him, he's giving the country a chance to see what a woman can do in a major political office. But if that's the only reason he's doing it, I say that's not right! I mean, think about it. If he wins and dies in office, she'll be president and if he picked her only because he needed a Republican Party response to Barak Obama, then he would essentially have appointed a president with no other qualifications than her gender. I hope that's not what has happened here. That's a big responsibility, if you think about it. Picking one's running mate is essentially picking one's replacement should they die.
Is there anything wrong with John McCain picking a woman, Sarah Palin, for vice president candidate? Not at all. As long as he didn't pick her just because she's a woman.
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Here's a quote by Leo Braudy that I heard on a docu-drama about the life of Joan of Arc. It impressed me enough to pause the DVD and write it down.
I've thought about it ever since the day you told me Sarah Palin had been selected as McCain's VP running mate.
I'd be interested in your thoughts about it:
"When the system has to chang, the vehicle for change is often a woman--because women are outside the social system."
What do you think he means by that?
I also wonder what our mutual sociology professor (can't remember his name)would say about it...
OOPS--should have previewed my comment. One of the words I typed lost an "e" ("When the system has to chang[e]...")
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