In the 1940s the second most beautiful pair of legs in the country belonged to Clare Boothe Luce according to a national newspaper poll.
Luce was a Congresswoman and, at the time, one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s most vocal critics. When asked if this title was beneath the dignity of congress Luce replied, “Don’t you realize that you are just falling for some subtle New Deal propaganda designed to distract attention from the end of me that is really functioning?”
This is the problem with sexism when it comes to politically powerful women. It’s a diabolic device that serves as nothing but a distraction. Too many in the media see women in politics as unnecessary, like some sort of potted plant in the corner of the room. In many cases this could not be further from the truth.
The House of Representatives and Senate is made up of only 17 percent women. Hillary Clinton brought them close to claiming the White House—some 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling close. Sarah Palin brought them close to the Vice Presidency—dangerously close.
We are learning just how dangerous a Sarah Palin Vice Presidency would have been with each passing day and now with the release of her memoir.
The McCain/ Palin ticket fell short and sexism in the media has been the reason why for Palin and most of her supporters since the campaign ended. Certainly Palin was discriminated against by the media and certainly sexism is blind to party affiliation. Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, two women on opposite sides of the political spectrum, can both claim sexism as a culprit.
So could Clare Boothe Luce and like Luce, Sarah Palin’s legs were also a topic of conversation recently when Newsweek featured Palin on the cover of their magazine in running shorts, holding a Blackberry and flanked by the American flag.
The difference in Luce and Palin is that Luce realized sexism was a distraction to keep people from recognizing her great political mind; “the end of her that was functioning” as she put it. Palin does not seem to view it that way. She likes playing the victim card at every corner. In fact, I remain unconvinced that Sarah Palin is functioning at that end at all.
A brief look at history shows that Clare Boothe Luce was a tireless advocate for conservative causes. She was a respected ambassador to Italy and Republican Congresswoman. She was a full-fledged “Goldwater Girl.” If she were alive today I would not agree with her conservative views, but I would respect her for the very thing Sarah Palin seems to lack—intellectual fortitude.
Make no mistake that upon her being chosen as John McCain’s running mate I admired Palin as the proverbial all-American woman; a woman who juggled kids, husband, and the governorship. I still admire her story. I question her substance, and substance is necessary to be a power-player on America’s political stage.
As if her national drubbing as a Vice Presidential candidate wasn’t enough, Palin is back on the stage and in the national media on a whirlwind book tour promoting her latest memoir Going Rogue. Much like it author, the book is light on ides and heavy on fluff, but its release is sending the far right neo-conservatives into a frenzy.
In a sort of shame on you tone Palin punches down at the people in the McCain campaign who she says handled her too delicately, gave her bad advice or did not allow her to be herself for media interviews.
Her accusations are interesting considering she froze like an Alaskan winter when CBS Nightly News anchor Katie Couric asked what newspapers or periodicals she read. “All of them,” she replied. Perhaps the grind of reading all of the newspapers is why she quit as Governor of Alaska.
The point is that Palin’s book is unfounded and while sexism may have certainly plagued her campaign it is not the reason she will never be a viable national candidate. The reason is simple: as voters, most people want someone they feel is as smart as or smarter than them in office. I’ve never gotten the sense that Sarah Palin was anymore knowledgeable than I am on foreign affairs; even if she really can see Russia from her front porch.
She writes in sweeping generalities about what she would do if she was in office. Generalities are hardly enough to prove that she belongs there.
The interview with Katie Couric is a telling one. For Palin to treat her sit-down talk with Couric as a chatty session between the girls is an embarrassment to journalism and working moms alike. Going before the national press and answering tough question about the issues of the day is something that politicians, both men and women, must do on a daily basis.
The staggering truth about Sarah Palin is that she is bold and has an uncanny knack to rally the conservative base, but has also made an uncanny number of errors. Her claim to celebrity is greater than her claim to authority, especially after deciding to resign as Governor after only half of her term in office was complete.
The Republican Party needs more women; it is a demographic they can ill afford to disenfranchise. They can improve their standing with women by putting smart, knowledgeable ones on the ticket. Political powerhouses like Hillary Clinton, Olympia Snowe and Condoleezza Rice did not achieve their success with celebrity; they did so with hard work and a true grasp of the important issues that affects our nation.
I admire Palin’s pluck and determination. I admire her as a working mother and she does have legitimate arguments over the way she was treated after being thrust onto the national stage. She needs to articulate a coherent vision for America (or even a sentence, for that matter) and let the voters know that the end of her we need to function really is functioning.
If that vision cannot be articulated then perhaps the most obvious evidence of sexism is that someone as incoherent, under qualified and severely unprepared as Sarah Palin was picked to run as Vice President ahead of far too many other women who could have successfully done the job.
Somewhere Clare Boothe Luce must be spinning in her grave.
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