What about Sarah Palin?
Sarah Palin is the second woman to be selected as a vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket and has garnered a great deal of media attention for her unusual background. But where does she stand on the issues and how does she compare to Hillary Clinton? Read on to get the facts on Governor Palin and read the BeyondHillary.com team's summary of what Governor Palin's addition to the Republican ticket means for Clinton supporters.
The Facts on Sarah Palin
Fact: Hillary Clinton does not support Sarah Palin's campaign for Vice President.
In a rally for Senator Obama in Florida on September 8, Senator Clinton said clearly to the gathered crowd, "No way, no how, no McCain - no Palin!" Senator Clinton has thus far avoided discussing Governor Palin's candidacy in depth, preferring to keep the focus on the issues rather than the the specific candidates who represent them. However, she has made it plain that she does not believe that Senator McCain or Governor Palin will effectively tackle the issues facing America this election cycle.
Fact: Governor Palin does not support a woman's right to choose.
Describing herself to be as as "pro-life as any candidate can be," Governor Palin has gone on the record as an opponent of abortion in every case except when a delivery would endanger the life of the mother, including in cases of rape and incest. This position supports that of Senator McCain, who has vowed to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade, but strongly contradicts Senator Clinton's and Senator Obama's belief that a woman has the right to choose to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
Fact: Governor Palin approved of charging women for rape kits.
While Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, the police chief whom she appointed cut departmental budget by instituting a policy where rape victims were required to pay $500 to $1200 for the rape kits used to examine them and gather evidence in cases of sexual assault. Although a spokesperson for Governor Palin recently claimed that she has never believed that rape victims should be made to pay for these kits, in fact, documents released by the town of Wasilla show that Ms. Palin reviewed and signed off on these budget cuts. While nearly all Alaskan towns covered the cost of rape kits as a necessary part of criminal investigation, the town of Wasilla continued to charge victms for them until a state-wide law banned the practice a year later.
Fact: Governor Palin originally supported the "Bridge to Nowhere" project.
While accepting the vice presidential nomination, Governor Palin famously claimed that "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere." However, this statement is misleading. In fact, Governor Palin initially supported the bridge project and only decided to halt it when it became clear that federal funding would not cover the rising cost of the project. And while she claims to have said "no thanks" to the funding for the bridge, in fact, though the project was halted, the federal funding for it was accepted and rerouted to other state projects.
Fact: Governor Palin does not have foreign policy experience.
It has been asserted that Sarah Palin has foreign policy experience from her time as Governor due to the fact that Alaska is near Russia. This is entirely false. While Alaska is closer to Russia than any other state is, Alaska and Russia do not share a border, and the duties of the Governor of Alaska do not involve any direct relationship with Russia.
Fact: Governor Palin is currently under investigation for alleged ethics violations during her time as governor.
On July 11, 2008, Governor Palin dismissed Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan from his position. The dismissal followed Mr. Monegan's refusal to fire Mike Wooten, an Alaska State Trooper who is also the ex-brother-in-law of Governor Palin. While the stated reason for the dismissal was concern over Mr. Monegan's performance, many people believe that the dismissal was an abuse of power by Governor Palin and was based not on Mr. Monegan's performance but his refusal to act on her vendetta against Mr. Wooten.
On August 1, 2008, the Alaska State Legislature voted to investigate Governor Palin's involvement in the firing. The investigation is ongoing, and official results are expected in October. However, Governor Palin's lawyers are working to have the case moved from independent investigation to investigation by the state's Personnel Board. Unlike the independent investigation appointed by the Legislature, the Personnel Board is appointed by the Governor.
Fact: Governor Palin opposes same-sex partnerships.
Governor Palin opposes same-sex marriage. She has also expressed support for an effort to amend the constitution of the state of Alaska to deny health benefits to same-sex couples. While neither Senator Clinton nor Senator Obama supports same-sex marriage, they have both expressed their support of same-sex civil unions which ensure that partners have access to healthcare and other benefits shared by married couples.
Fact: Governor Palin believes that climate change is unrelated to human activities.
While Governor Palin has expressed concern over the effects of climate change on her home state of Alaska, she has also stated that, "I'm not one, though, who would attribute global warming to being man-made." In fact, the worldwide scientific community is nearly unanimous in the belief that global warming has been caused at least in part by human activities. Senator Obama, like Senator Clinton, believes that we can have an effect on global warming, and has proposed an aggressive plan for providing more clean energy.
So what does this mean for Clinton supporters?
When you make the decision of whether or not to support a politician, you can consider two factors: what ideas they stand for as a politician, and their characteristics as a person. While the election of a person to a given office may be a historical milestone because of their gender, their race or some other characteristic, most of the impact they have while in office is determined not by who they are as defined by these superficial traits, but rather by what they stand for politically.
If you supported Hillary Clinton during the primaries, you may have done so in part because you want to see a woman in the White House. However, because Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination instead of Senator Clinton, while John McCain appointed Sarah Palin as his running mate, some of Senator Clinton's supporters feel that they must make a difficult decision: Should they vote for Senator Obama, or should they vote for John McCain in order to put a woman in the White House, albeit as vice president?
This is a tension that we understand. We share in the desire to see a woman as president or vice president in the near future. However, because we believe that politicians must be primarily defined by their politics rather than their superficial characteristics, we also emphatically believe that the first woman elected to the executive branch of government must, like any other person in government, be first and foremost the best person for the job. At BeyondHillary.com, we strongly believe Governor Palin is not the right person for the job, and we also believe that if you support Senator Clinton for her policies and not just her personality, you'll agree.
As we learn more about Governor Palin in the days to come, we hope to put up a chart on this page similar to the comparison chart we've created for the presidential candidates. For now, though, let's just take a broad look at how Governor Palin's ideas compare to Senator Clinton's. Some of Senator Clinton's priorities include providing healthcare to all Americans, ending the Iraq war and improving the quality of life for the American middle class. Senator Clinton supports a woman's right to have an abortion and favors gun control. As you can see in our comparison chart, Senator Obama's beliefs are extremely similar to Senator Clinton's.
Governor Palin, on the other hand, takes a different view on nearly all of the issues. Governor Palin opposes a woman's right to choose in all but extreme cases, and opposes sex education in schools. She is a member of the NRA and a strong proponent of the Second Amendment. Because she has no national political experience, it appears that Governor Palin doesn't currently have firm positions on issues such as the national healthcare system and strengthening the middle class. Also, when asked about the Iraq war in an interview, she said that she favored the creation of an exit strategy, but admitted that she "[hadn't] really focused much on the war in Iraq."
Which brings us to the question of experience. While many people have worried publicly over Senator Obama's experience and how that will affect his presidency, the fact is that Senator Obama has served in high-profile elected roles for more than ten years, first as a State Senator in Illinois from 1997 through 2004, then as a US Senator from 2005 to the present. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, has served as Governor of Alaska for less than two years. Her only previous political experience was as the mayor of a town of less than 9,000 people. While Senator Obama's resume includes service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Governor Palin has no international experience whatsoever. And yet, the oldest presidential candidate in US history has chosen Sarah Palin to be second in line for the presidency, a job which she is simply not qualified to hold.
Sarah Palin is an interesting addition to the Republican ticket this fall. However, she is not qualified to be the Vice President of the United States of America, or to take over as President if needed. Her political positions are vastly different from Senator Clinton's and, like John McCain, if she were to take over as Commander in Chief, the policies she would support would be nearly the polar opposite of the future that Senator Clinton has worked so hard to build. If you value Senator Clinton's ideas, Governor Palin should hardly be a factor to consider when you cast your vote. A vote for McCain and Palin, while it might put a woman in the White House, will also be a direct blow to Senator Clinton's political ideas, while a vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden will help make sure that those ideas gain power on a national level. We'll see another chance to put a woman in the White House in the future, and it's well worth it to be patient until the female candidate is truly the best person for the job.