the luck of sarah palin... and the feminist push in patriarchal america

8/14/2019 The Luck of Sarah Palin... and the Feminist Push in Patriarchal America

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THE LUCK OF SARAH PALIN... AND THE FEMINIST

PUSH IN PATRIARCHAL AMERICA

by Jesusa Bernardo

(First published in Newsvine, September 18, 2008 EDT)

The selection of Sarah Palin as the running mate of

Republican standard-bearer John McCain for the

November 2008 presidential elections generated such a

phenomenal reaction that it is credited for the

surprising come-from-behind lead of McCain over

Obama in the various election surveys. How Palin

spelled magic for a discredited party identified with a

much discredited incumbent president is significantly

explained by two broiling feminist issues that have

come of age in patriarchal America. Just what are these? Well, within the context of a 250-

or-so year-old nation never having known what it's like to have a woman president or VP,

it's the Alaskan governor's gender, and the sexism that derailed the democratic

nomination of the first viable female presidential hopeful.

Judging from what the media has published, Palin's

candidacy took the American nation by storm. Rightafter McCain's announcement of his vice-

presidential choice, the liberal pro-Obama media

largely went on a frenzied attack of Palin. Even

social networking sites were not spared: a

columnist of MSNBC's Newsvine lamented the

"absolutely hysterical reaction" of his "lefty"

colleagues over the choice of Palin. Under normal

circumstances, the selection of an obscure governor

from a far-off state (a woman at that, perhaps some will say) as the running mate of an

underdog Republican presidentiable would have only meted a shrug in the shoulders from

commentaries and at worse, ignoring scorn from the largely liberal media. In spite of, or

perhaps, because of the rather perplexing media outcry against the choice of Palin, public

opinion switched to the side of the Republican tandem as the election surveys saw Obama

slipping to trail McCain again.

Why the huge media pounce on a national political unknown? Could it have been that the

media forgot that Gov. Palin is a virtual unknown? Or is the furor derived from the



realization that the McCain camp has wisely capitalized on the intense but glossed-over

disenchantment of women/pro-women voters over Hillary's loss? Does the media, seen to

have favored Barack Obama over Hillary during the contentious Democratic nomination

campaign, fear a women's backlash against their candidate of choice?

Historic first black and first female bids

What transpired during the last couple of months since

the nomination campaign period began for the

Republican and Democratic parties were far from

ordinary. The final contenders during the Democratic

primaries each presented a historic bid to be the party's

standard bearer for the coming presidential elections--a

(white) woman and a black man. That bid was of course

won by Barack Obama, the first ever African-American

man to become a presidential nominee in American

history. Worth noting is that the historic democratic primaries race won by a black man has

been one of the most colorful, contentious and divisive in recent US history. Amidst the

pronounced support for Obama by a liberal press practically mesmerized by his mantra of

change, often muted but persisting voices have charged how the Hillary campaign

suffered under the bashing of sexism and misogyny.

Thus, Palin's candidacy came on the heels of the

historically prominent bid of Hillary Clinton to become the

first viable US female presidential candidate eve--all 250

or so years after the original 13 colonies broke away fromBritish stranglehold to revolt and form the Union. The

Republican Party is well aware of this, as Palin echoed

Hillary's words during her acceptance speech. Palin

bellowed how "Hillary made 18 million cracks in the

highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out

the women of American aren't finished yet, and we can

shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."

Republicans capitalize on the patriarchy issue

The surprising choice of Palin as the running mate of the Republican standard bearer

McCain reflects just how much the feminist voice has impacted on US politics. Palin's

selection and the earlier Hillary spurn are a puzzling development in how the Republican

and Democratic parties deal with the feminist issue of breaking the White House glass

ceiling. The Democratic Party has long been seen in America as the party that champions

the advancement of women's rights. Yet, with the results of the recent presidential



nomination campaign, the party miserably failed to field

history's first viable U.S. female presidential hopeful as

its standard-bearer--and not even as VP bet.

On the other, the Republican Party is supposedlynotorious for embracing the likes of Anna Coultier who

prefers stripping the female sex of just about every

human right possible. If the anti-feminist image of the

Republican Party were true, what then explains the choice of

Palin as McCain's running-mate? Perhaps the best explanation

for the Palin pick is that the edgy, if not defensive,

administration party--which suffers from the malaise brought

about George W. Bush's botched presidency--sensed that

Hillary's failed bid fanned the smoldering clamor for a woman

presidential or vice-presidential candidate among female voters.

The "18 million cracks" refers to the number of votes Hillary

obtained during the primaries--seen to be largely disaffected by

Obama's nomination victory, and his subsequent act of spurning

Hillary as his running mate despite suggestions from Hillary's

supporters and even feelers from the Clintons themselves. These

are the Democratic votes the Republican seems to want to win

over, among others. After it became evident that Palin has carried

McCain's campaign towards public favor, Palin in an interview

made a remark that apparently calls the attention of pro-femalevoters to the blunder of spurning Hillary. "I think he's regretting

not picking her now," Palin said of Obama's VP choice. In choosing

a woman--a fiery Palin--as his running mate, McCain perhaps wisely thought of how party

loyalty would not probably matter to Democratic voters so long as the 2008 elections

produce the first ever woman candidate to shatter the American VP glass ceiling.

No turning back to male monopoly of power

Very recently, the issue of unsound economic policies of the Republican Party that came

following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the crisis threatening AIG insurance seemsto be overtaking Palin's phenomenal boost to McCain's campaign. The recent September

Gallup polls results show Obama regaining a slim edge over McCain, as the Republican

team tries hard to disassociate themselves from the Bush administration. At any rate,

even if the McCain-Palin ticket does not actually win come November, so long as the final

tally comes anywhere a close call, American society will never be the same again. More

specifically, it will never be as patriarchal again. There's simply no turning back the gains

obtained from the feminist push Hillary and Palin made during this electoral period. Of



course, Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton, as feminist author

Gloria Steinem notes that the only thing the former shares

with the latter is the female gender. To those frustrated by

generations after generations of male monopoly on power,

though, any woman U.S. Vice-President would still carry the

elusive message that the female can win the White House.

It is Sarah Palin's luck that half of the Democratic Party

opted not to allow Hillary to break the "highest, hardest

ceiling of them all" and that Obama subsequently

spurned Hillary as his VP running mate. As well, it is

Palin's good fortune that John McCain is either

politically cunning or progressive enough to heed the

clamor for a woman leader of America. In case the

nearly impossible happens and the Republican Party

wins the 2008 elections, thanks mostly to the Palin fever, history will credit Hillary Clinton

for being the thwarted but first viable female presidential candidate who paved the way

for the first successful female vice presidential nominee of America.

_________

Photos from Flickr.com

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