Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Sarah Palin in cotton wool

Jo Christie-Smith has written a thoroughly absorbing post on Sarah Palin.

So far, Palin has been received relatively sympathetically compared to Dan Quayle.

However, she has yet to hold a press conference, and her debut at the UN was 'pool cameras only'.

Her main "freewheeling" encounters with the press have been:

1. When she was starting to drink a coffee in a diner and she was asked about the AIG bailout to which she replied "disappointed that taxpayers are called upon to bail out another one" before immediately sipping coffee, thus ending the conversation. Her mouth had hardly finished forming the word "one" before the coffee passed her lips.

2. Buying icecreams at a shop, but the media 'pool producer' wasn't notified of this, so she was not asked any questions.

I also note that concessions have been made for Palin at the Veep candidate debate so that she doesn't get caught out in anything as vigorous as a debate.

So, although the choice of a woman may have done favours to her gender to start with, the patronising way she is being used, or not used, on the campaign trail may well turn out to be disastrous as an advertisement for women's skills. The message currently seems to be:

"yes - have a woman on the ticket - but keep her wrapped in cotton-wool".

Much of this patronising, cotton-wool treatment flows from the choice of a grossly inexperienced candidate.

As I have said repeatedly, if McCain had chosen Kay Bailey Hutchison (right), we wouldn't be having this conversation....

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