Not My Daughter's Role Model

I recently received an email asking me why I believe that Sarah Palin, despite all the celebrity "buzz" she has generated, is a poor choice to be Vice President of the United States. Here is my response:

Here is why I say "NO!" to Sarah Palin:I have a nine month old daughter. I want her to inherit a cleaner, more prosperous, more peaceful world than the one we live in now. I want her to get a decent education in public schools, and to learn that science and faith answer two completely different sets of questions. I want her to be able to make her own decisions about her body and her life. I want her to have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. I want her to live in a world where polar bears exist outside of zoos. I want her to be proud to be an American, proud of a country that leads by example and not by force, proud of a country that deals fairly with its own citizens and with those who have come here seeking a better life. I want her to value the rule of law over the law of the jungle.

If McCain/Palin are elected, the chances of my daughter living in that world are severely diminished.

There are so many great role models for my daughter in politics: Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Shirley Chisholm, Eleanor Roosevelt, Frances Perkins, Abigail Adams, Victoria Woodhull, Jeanette Rankin, Rebecca Felton, Nellie Ross, Geraldine Ferraro -- the list, I am happy to say, is long.

Sarah Palin is not good enough be on that list. I don't want my daughter to emulate a woman who has more snark than smarts, more lipstick than substance, who is celebrated for what she looks like rather than for the content of her character or the soundness of her ideas.

That is why I, as a woman, a feminist, and a mother, say "Hell, no!" to Sarah Palin.

To view other responses, go to http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/.

To send in your own response, send an email to womensaynopalin@gmail.com. Please include your name and home town.