Sheila Nevins | 08/30/2008 9:17 am

Sheila Nevins: Why Palin Is a Great Choice

WOW ladies take a breather. This is a wonderful choice. It is a clear choice and that’s what America stands for. The issues that Palin represents though reprehensible to me - represent a constituency and a voice. American democracy represents the right to disagree. It also represents majority rule. The cards are on the table - race, abortion, gun control, stem cell research, taxation, godliness - you name it. There’s no fudging here - no middle of the road. rhetoric. Americans will declare their absolute preferences. And a woman will stand for this. Being a woman doesn’t mean agreeing with the WOW dames. Palin may not be in whom we trust, but there is an odd equality in the sheer selection. Women can be as arbitrary and right wing as any man. And for those of us for whom Sarah Palin’s beliefs belie our deepest convictions. So be it. The great truths lie in an honest ballot box. Vote and live in America or flee if you must. Great choice in the divide A civil war without bullets. Three cheers for clarity.

What Other wOw Women Are Saying About Sarah Palin:
Whoopi Golderg on Sarah Palin and Joe Biden
Joan Ganz Cooney: The Choice of Palin Is Irresponsible
Marlo Thomas: They Don’t Understand Women

Read more about: John McCain, News, Politics, Sarah Palin

379 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

This is not a wonderful choice when the election is this close, we have questions about our voting machines and a right-wing propaganda machine with enough voices to drown out common sense. Add to that the racial element of this election and there is nothing good about this. John McCain is a 72 year old man who has had serious health problems and his choice of VP is of vital interest. By choosing Sarah Palin he has chosen political pandering and expediency over the welfare of our country. Sarah Palin was the mayor of a tiny town of less than 9,000 in Alaska. She has been the governor of a state with fewer citizens than the city I live in, and THIS for only 18 months. Not only is her ideology polar opposite to Hillary Clinton whose disgruntled voters are one of the targets of this choice, but there are quite a number of extremely troubling links between Sarah Palin and neopentecostal dominionists. Even her educational background does not lend itself to being a VP candidate. A degree in journalism may be a nice thing to have, but it does not prepare a person to lead a nation as powerful as the U.S. if need be. This is not a wonderful choice if we have any hope for this country to pull itself out of the terrible place 8 years of Bush and 6 years of full Republican control has put us. I have children who have a lot riding on this country and on this election and I don’t appreciate John McCain playing with our future for his own self interest.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/30/2008 11:49 am

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Hey, DeB, Here is an article you may be interested in seeing: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-feldman/palin-adds-right-wing-cru_… Hope you are enjoying the Labor Day weekend. I’ll be ready for Tuesday when it rolls around.

By Diana T on 08/30/2008 12:42 pm

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Diana, thank you for the link. Much of my Labor Day weekend will be spent “laboring”… helping my daughter move into a new apartment. But this is a good thing. I am sort of dreading next week and the Republican Convention. I really cannot bring myself to watch it. All I will do if I catch any major speech is yell at the tv anyway! I just heard Jesse Jackson Jr. describe McCain’s VP choice as “a threat to the national security”…. pretty much sums it up don’t you think so?

By DeBúrca obj on 08/30/2008 2:30 pm

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I don’t go to Fluffpo anymore—they never print my deathless comments. Wah!

By Star Lawrence on 08/30/2008 3:55 pm

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I used to live next door to Arianna Huffington on Riven Rock Rd in Montecito and we shared the same haridresser. I think she is brilliant….admire her completely. As do millions. Her readership is huge, INFORMED, engaged and INTELLIGENT…can’t say the same about most blogs…..

By No Way-No How -No McCain on 08/30/2008 7:29 pm

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neither do I Star. all partisan propaganda.

By Buh- Bye on 08/30/2008 8:44 pm

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Some propaganda, some opinion, some truth. Everything is a mixed bag.

By Mugsy Peabody on 08/31/2008 4:41 am

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You’re right, DeBurca. It is a pathetically sad, horrific, idiotic and pandering choice. There are enough ignorant air-heads in this country devolving any sense of informed diligent and rigorous thought without Shelia Nevins using her platform to affirm the heinously stupid. This will be the last thing of hers I read. Truly disgusting. From David Mark, Fred Barbash at Politico: PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS PAN PALIN PICK Leaving Presidential scholars literally stunned they say she appears to be the least experienced, least credentialed person to join a major-party ticket. said Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor and scholar of the vice presidency. “Being governor of a small state for less than two years is not consistent with who’s of presidential caliber.” “She is the most inexperienced person on a major party ticket in modern history,” said presidential historian Matthew Dallek. That includes Spiro T. Agnew, Dan Quayle, who had served in the House and Senate for 12 years before taking office, and iGeraldine Ferraro, who served three terms in the House before Walter Mondale chose her in 1984 as the first woman candidate on a major party ticket. “It makes Obama look like an elder statesman. Palin has no experience in national office. Before becoming governor in December 2006, she served as a council member and mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, which had a population of slightly more than 5,000 during her time in office.” Palin is a total “wild card,” said Stanford historian David Kennedy. “The first thing that hits me,” said Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution,” is that it suggests that John McCain is a gambler. “The next thing you have to ask yourself: Is it worrisome to have a gambler in the Oval Office? That’s an important question,” he said, “perhaps more important than anything else today.”

By No Way-No How -No McCain on 08/30/2008 7:43 pm

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Bravo, Suzanne!

By Tick Pyne on 08/30/2008 8:01 pm

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He’s a gambler alright and he is gambling with the welfare of our country.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/30/2008 8:15 pm

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Is this you winery, change your name back you’re confusing me!? Anyway, just thought I’d tell you I read that the gallup poll today shows Obama up by 8 pts. …not too bad

By DeBúrca obj on 08/30/2008 8:55 pm

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DeBurca, Agreed. Also, let’s not forget there is an investigation underway to determine whether Gov. Palin abused her power to have her trooper brother-in-law fired. Had McCain not been so impulsive in offering Palin this position, he might have thought twice about her, don’t you think?

By N P on 08/30/2008 11:07 pm

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I think that one of two things is happening here, either very disturbing. Either McCain is just maniacally determined to win at any cost and willing to sacrifice the country to do it, or else, just like Bush, McCain has become a front for someone or some group running the Republican Party who made him choose her. And if the latter is the case it still comes down to McCain going along with being a front man because he is so hell bent on winning he is even willing to jeopardize this country’s welfare and go along with the party on this.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/31/2008 8:43 am

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Hi DeBurca, You know it. I tend to think that Schmitz has been running the show for a longtime. I just heard that Bush and Cheney will not be attending the Republican Convention. Too bad for us, and luck break for the Republicans. Am heading out now for bagels, coffee and the papers. Such is my Sunday ritual. I don’t plan to watch the Rep. convention this week. Like you said, I need a break. But I’ll be checking in now and then to Wow. See ya,

By N P on 08/31/2008 11:39 am

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My Sunday ritual is the same as you. I guess I’m a “latte drinking liberal” lol I just want to urge everyone to write to the letters page of their newspapers and let people really know this woman’s history. What I am seeing from the mainstream media is a deliberate lack of information with the spin that this is just a woman with an interesting history. Without letters, the corporate owned media will not get the truth of this vp pick out to the general public.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/31/2008 12:16 pm