NYT, Gail Collins: McCain’s Baked Alaska; "Governor, you’re no Hillary Clinton.”

[DeepModem Mom]

McCain’s Baked Alaska
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: August 30, 2008

....I do feel kind of ticked off at the assumptions that the Republicans seem to be making about female voters. It’s a tad reminiscent of the Dan Quayle selection, when the first George Bush’s advisers decided they could close the gender gap with a cute running mate.

The idea that women are going to race off to vote for any candidate with the same internal plumbing is both offensive and historically wrong. When the sexes have parted company in modern elections, it’s generally been because women are more likely to be Democrats, and more concerned about protecting the social safety net. “The gender gap traditionally has been determined by party preference, not by the gender of the candidate,” said Ruth Mandel of the Eagleton Institute of Politics.

Over the last week, we have heard over and over and over that Tuesday was the anniversary of the day women got the right to vote....After that big moment of enfranchisement, women went through a long period in the desert where they had the vote but not much else. Then came the great revolutions of the 1970s, when all the assumptions about the natural divisions between the sexes were challenged. During that era, women could be excited and moved by symbolic candidacies that promised a better, more inclusive future, like Shirley Chisholm’s presidential race and Geraldine Ferraro’s presence on the Democratic national ticket.

This year, Hillary Clinton took things to a whole new level. She didn’t run for president as a symbol but as the best-prepared candidate in the Democratic pack. Whether you liked her or not, she convinced the nation that women could be qualified to both run the country and be commander in chief. That was an enormous breakthrough, and Palin’s nomination feels, in comparison, like a step back.

If she’s only on the ticket to try to get disaffected Clinton supporters to cross over, it’s a bad choice. Joe Biden may already be practicing his drop-dead line for the vice-presidential debate: “I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine, and governor, you’re no Hillary Clinton.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/opinion/30collins-.html?hp

[senseandsensibility]

1. Keep this kicked and get it on the greatest page!

:kick:

[Qutzupalotl]

2. Make that "Half-Baked Alaska"

considering how much thought went into this choice.

Country First, C*** Second.

[senseandsensibility]

3. Half-baked Alaska!

I like it!

[Martinucho]

4. Funny, Collins usually hates on Clinton

Weird.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. You're right. She was very critical during the Primaries. nt

[liberalpragmatist]

6. I love this graf:

McCain does not believe in pandering to identity politics. He was looking for someone who was well prepared to fight against international Islamic extremism, the transcendent issue of our time. And in the end he decided that in good conscience, he was not going to settle for anyone who had not been commander of a state national guard for at least a year and a half. He put down his foot!

The obvious choice was Palin, the governor of Alaska, whose guard stands as our last best defense against possible attack by the resurgent Russian menace across the Bering Strait.

Also a woman, but that’s totally beside the point.

[janx]

7. It is actually legal to get baked in Alaska

as long as you grow your own.

[wyldwolf]

8. Hey! Wait a minute!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6814040&mesg_id=6814040