The Real Thing?

Governor Sarah Palin keeps looking better and better, and I don’t mean her physical appearance.’

Her speech at the Republican Convention showed that she’s the real thing. She hasn’t been a woman “fighting for….” She’s a woman who’s been doing things regardless of whether the establishment or the good ol’ boys (or any other group) has given it’s endorsement.

Dee Dee Myers wrote a column, published on August 29th, in which she questions the logic of the Palin pick as VP since presumably she won’t appeal to pro-choice women:

Clearly, McCain thinks Palin will help him among women, particularly those disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters who are having so much trouble “getting over it.” It just shows how clueless the McCain camp actually is. Unlike Clinton and Ferraro, Palin hasn’t been a strong national voice on women’s issues. She hasn’t been at the barricades, fighting for women’s health, equal pay, economic security. And she certainly hasn’t had anything to say about the national-security issues that are also important to women across the political spectrum. Does the McCain camp really expect pro-choice Democratic and independent women to be swayed by a sleight-of-gender?

Ms. Myers statements have been repeated by countless pundits, commentators, and politicians. What they don’t get is that there’s something bigger here. I don’t think any serious Republican thinks that a Democrat or Independent can be “duped” into voting for a Republican candidate. Governor Palin’s speech indicated that she’s ready to run as a candidate who is a woman, yes, but not a candidate representing a special interest group.

If we see her start to shed fake tears on the campaign trail and talk about how mean the boys are, then my estimations will clearly have been in error. But her VP speech suggested that she’s a real person and her authenticity appeals to a lot of people, men and women both. Yes, she holds a unique appeal for many women. Daniel Henninger put it well in his WSJ column:

Let’s stipulate that not all “liberal” women share the Roe-dominated test of which women in public life get a pass and which are shunned. But this notion of sisterhood as a rules-based club is the public face of the feminist message, and in politics message is all — until it no longer makes sense.

Sarah Palin looks like the old model’s first real political challenge. They will be gunning for her. Good luck with that.

No one expects one male candidate to represent all the male voters, why would we expect one woman to represent all women voters? Here’s to a campaign in which a woman is treated as a candidate and not as the representative of a special interest group.

(And since when did women all agree on every topic? Like men, we have different views on various topics. We also think about more than abortion and glass ceilings, regardless of what we think on either issue.)