rssWhat Women Want: Identity Politics
Friday, February 06, 2009 at 10:12 am
- 4 Comments
This uncharacteristically lazy Yuval Levin essay on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is making the rounds, but it doesn’t contain anything that wasn’t hashed out on talk radio and blogs four months ago. To wit:
The Palin moment … exposed the vulnerability of the Left to a challenge to its most cherished claims—as the sole representative of the interests of the working class and the only legitimate path to political power for an ambitious woman.
Yes, of course. Four months before he chose Palin as his running mate, Sen. John McCain voted against extending the statute of limitations for pay discrimination complaints. Two months after the election, McCain voted against it again. But McCain elevated a rather mediocre politician that most women will never meet onto a losing presidential ticket. I don’t know how the Left can compete with this.
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4 Comments
Comment posted February 6, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
The Sarah Palin Yuval Levin writes about is not the same Sarah Palin that can't even do “Meet the Press” because she babbles incoherently.
Comment posted February 7, 2009 @ 8:12 am
If there is such a thing as women's identity politics, it is embodied in the demand that women be treated with respect in politics and business.
This does not mean that the secretary should not be expected to serve coffee, it means openness to the idea that a well-qualified man could be a secretary, too.
Respect for women in politics means that issues that concern women: the cost of living, education, jobs, economic equity, amd decent affordable housing receive the same priority as weapons systems, telecommunications, and legal strategies protecting corporations.
On issues regarding the cost of living, education, jobs, economic equity and housing Sarah Palin is on the wrong side. As a Republican politician Palin supports the GOP policies that have shifted the tax burden ever more onto the shoulders of the middle class and resulted in the stagflation we are now experiencing. Sarah Palin has a very mediocre track record on education as the Governor of Alaska, following rather than leading legislative measures to improve schooling for Alaskan natives and children with handicaps. Sarah Palin lied about her opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere and has not shown interest in anything that does not target corporate or state control of job growth in Alaska. Sarah Palin's idea of economic equity is that she accepts rather than requests $150,000 worth of clothing.
In her robust championship of large public works projects like the Bridge to Nowhere and the Alaska gas pipeline, Governor Palin has demonstrated that she is a booster of government funded projects that primarily benefit corporate, big business interests. Governor Palin consistently resists any suggestions to use projects such as these to alleviate Alaska's glaring economic inequalities. If you fit the profile to get hired by big business, Gov. Palin has something for you. If you do not fit this profile, Gov. Palin will help business crush you.
There are tens of millions of loyal GOP women who will vote for Sarah Palin if she is nominated by the GOP in 2012. They will vote for her because she is the Republican standard bearer, even while professing their pride in the party for nominating a woman.
But if gender identity politics means anything other than what gonads a candidate is carrying, Sarah Palin is poison on women's issues.
Comment posted February 7, 2009 @ 4:12 pm
If there is such a thing as women's identity politics, it is embodied in the demand that women be treated with respect in politics and business.
This does not mean that the secretary should not be expected to serve coffee, it means openness to the idea that a well-qualified man could be a secretary, too.
Respect for women in politics means that issues that concern women: the cost of living, education, jobs, economic equity, amd decent affordable housing receive the same priority as weapons systems, telecommunications, and legal strategies protecting corporations.
On issues regarding the cost of living, education, jobs, economic equity and housing Sarah Palin is on the wrong side. As a Republican politician Palin supports the GOP policies that have shifted the tax burden ever more onto the shoulders of the middle class and resulted in the stagflation we are now experiencing. Sarah Palin has a very mediocre track record on education as the Governor of Alaska, following rather than leading legislative measures to improve schooling for Alaskan natives and children with handicaps. Sarah Palin lied about her opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere and has not shown interest in anything that does not target corporate or state control of job growth in Alaska. Sarah Palin's idea of economic equity is that she accepts rather than requests $150,000 worth of clothing.
In her robust championship of large public works projects like the Bridge to Nowhere and the Alaska gas pipeline, Governor Palin has demonstrated that she is a booster of government funded projects that primarily benefit corporate, big business interests. Governor Palin consistently resists any suggestions to use projects such as these to alleviate Alaska's glaring economic inequalities. If you fit the profile to get hired by big business, Gov. Palin has something for you. If you do not fit this profile, Gov. Palin will help business crush you.
There are tens of millions of loyal GOP women who will vote for Sarah Palin if she is nominated by the GOP in 2012. They will vote for her because she is the Republican standard bearer, even while professing their pride in the party for nominating a woman.
But if gender identity politics means anything other than what gonads a candidate is carrying, Sarah Palin is poison on women's issues.
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