Thursday, September 4, 2008

Obama Responsible For Sexist Media Attack On Palin


THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: It was Barack Obama's own campaign who launched the sexist attack on Governor Sarah Palin, and it was only after this, the mainstream media took it as a permission slip to do the same. In the initial moments following John McCain's announcement of his V.P. pick, the Obama campaign sprung into immediate action with the worst example of sexist mudslinging....
(The Weekly Standard) - “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies — that’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same,” said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

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Hillary Clinton supporters ought to be appalled. Is this not the epitome of the "glass ceiling" phenomenon in America? Though 'The Catholic Knight' has more problems with Hillary's politics than I can count, I have to give credit where credit is due. Hillary Clinton was far more qualified to run for president than Barack Obama. She spent far more time in the Senate, where she actually worked to get things done. She actually lobbied for specific legislation, and then was not afraid to vote for it, or even put her name on it. Former President Bill Clinton admitted from the earliest days of his administration (indeed, even before he was elected president), that Hillary played a much bigger role than the traditional public relations spokeswoman often seen in most first ladies. According to Bill, when the people elected him, they got her too, and Whitehouse insiders have since reported that Hillary played a very central role in the Bill Clinton administration. Could we call this "executive experience?" Perhaps we could, at least, in a limited way. So here we have a perfectly qualified woman running for president in the Democratic Party, and what happens? She's upstaged, and eventually forced out, by a young, handsome and articulate man, who is far less experienced, and not nearly as qualified. Hillary may have put 18 million cracks in the Democratic glass ceiling, but that wasn't good enough for the Democratic Party establishment. The glass ceiling holds strong - at least in the Democratic Party.

Then upon learning that Senator John McCain had selected a woman for the Republican vice presidential nominee, Obama's campaign immediately launches into an attack that diminishes her experience. Ironically, when one includes all of Sarah Palin's political experience in elected office, she actually has more than Barack Obama. When one includes her experience in appointed office, it surpasses Obama's again. When one includes her experience fighting government corruption as a "community organizer," she again surpasses Obama. Then when one considers the amount of executive experience held by Palin (something that directly pertains to the office of vice president), she outranks Obama by considerable margin. So once again, we have the same story of a young, handsome and articulate man trying to upstage (and even belittle) a woman with far more experience and qualifications than he has. Within hours of making this sexist attack, the Obama campaign back-peddled and decided to congratulate Palin on her historic nomination. Obama later admitted his error...
(Politico) - At a stop in Monaca, Pa., Barack Obama seemed to distance himself from his campaign's first, harshly critical response to the Palin pick.

"I think that...campaigns start getting these hair triggers and the statement that Joe and I put out reflects our sentiments," he said, according to the pool report, apparently criticizing his staff for going overboard, as he did occasionally in the primary.

He was referring to a more gracious statement of congratulations he issued later with Biden, which he then reiterated.

"I haven't met her before. She seems like a compelling person ... with a terrific personal story....

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'The Catholic Knight' applauds Senator Obama's retraction of his campaign's initial sexist attack. However, that's not good enough. The Obama campaign's initial response was a clear signal to the media to "go sexist" on the "experience" issue, and simply retracting the initial statement is like trying to unring a bell after it's already been rung. If Obama wants to make things right, he's going to have to come out strongly against the media attacks on Palin's well-qualified experience. He's going to have to condemn those media attacks as sexist in nature, and call for them to stop. If he doesn't, he is complicit with them. After all, it was his campaign that started it.  Let's see if he's man enough to do the right thing.