Red, White and Screw You!

I'm very sad that I won't be able to attend to the voting booths this November and fill out my ballot box like every other responsible citizen of the United States. But no worries, my absentee voter ballot will be shipped to me any day now!

This presidential election is certainly shaping up to be one for the books.  On the Democratic front, we have a charismatic young black novice, Barack Obama and his vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and on the Republican side, we have a political veteran John McCain and his vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin.  No matter which party wins, we're going to have either the first African American president or the first female vice president serving and leading our country for the next four years.  

Barack is already well-known for his appeal with the younger voters and constant media attention.  It's been the target of McCain's gripes for the past few months.  However, I suppose the Republicans are finally getting some of that spotlight they've been craving with Sarah Palin and her whirlwind personal life.  When it was first brought to light that Palin was going to be the vice presidential candidate, people speculated on her beauty pageant past.  Now, with recent news that her 17-year old daughter is pregnant, the tabloids seem to have found their new favorite cover-girl.

Perhaps it's because the media is notorious for being left-winged, or perhaps it's because Palin is a woman, but it seems to be the consensus that most of the press on her is unfavorable and focuses solely on criticizing her capabilities as a mother and citing that her beauty queen past may make her not fit for the job.  

I have a bone to pick for that.  First of all, how does being a beauty queen make you less capable of being a good civil servant to the country?  I'm so sick of pageant girls having this bad rap of being superficial, fake, and can't be taken seriously.  In fact, I would say that Palin's pageant sash shows that she's an extremely competent potential vice president.  She has good looks to ride on but instead of wasting her life away by marrying some rich old man or trying to be a model, she had the drive to actually go out there and run for governor of Alaska. And win!  Pageantry also requires a lot of competitive streak, a type of tenacity and a lot of hard work.  To be successful at it, you have to be a pretty capable young woman.  Adding onto that, the fact that she won Miss Congeniality shows her genial nature.  It shows she wasn't one of those girls who would step on anyone just to win the crown.  She did something that made the other girls like her enough to want to vote her for the title.  (Miss Congeniality in most pageants are voted by the other competing girls).  Besides, pageantry was just a hobby that she did when she was younger.  Obama likes to play basketball alot, how come no one gripes about the lack of seriousness in that? How come he can play basketball but still be a good leader for our nation?

Secondly, the fact that Bristol Palin is pregnant most certainly does not mean that Sarah was a poor mother.  One can only be responsible for another human being for so long.  It's no secret that Palin is pro-life so her and her daughter's decision to keep the baby makes perfect sense.  How about instead of lighting on that fact, bring up the part on how Palin was able to juggle motherhood and a successful and life-consuming career all at the same time?

To get to where she is today, it takes more than just good looks.  I hate how Hillary was chastised for looking too stern and cold and now Palin is chastised for being too pretty.  If you ask me, Obama looks a little bit too skinny and frail to be able to handle the weight of the entire country on his shoulders. Why aren't people worried that he looks like he may collapse at any moment?

With all that being said, I'm still voting Democrats.  I do believe that Obama will do a wonderful job leading our nation and I think it's definitely time for a change in regime.  Besides, I'm way too liberal to support the other side. 

Nonetheless, I must say I am also very much a feminist and I do wish that people would stop hounding Palin. It's already hard enough that she has to deal with her 17 year old daughter being pregnant and running for V.P. under the serious scrutiny of the world.  She doesn't need extra sexism stirred into the pot.