Today, 75 women from Illinois' 10th Congressional district sent a letter to GOP Rep. Mark Kirk lambasting his vocal support for vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin:
We are writing to you to express our disappointment with your effusive praise of Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin. Just one month after you cast a vote against equal pay for equal work, your strong support for Palin demonstrates your lack of interest in standing up for the values of the 10th District.
Soon after John McCain announced that he had chosen Palin to be his vice presidential nominee, you praised her candidacy, saying that you were "encouraged" by her candidacy and that she is a "reformer." To the women of the 10th District, there is nothing encouraging about Palin's extreme political views, including her opposition to a woman's right to choose even in the cases of incest and rape, equal pay for equal work, and gun control. Nor is her support for abstinence-only sex education, teaching creationism in our schools, and banning books from our public libraries.
Just as we are dismayed by her extreme positions on the issues, we are also offended by the patronizing and cynical view that because she is a woman, she will automatically earn our support. While some of us supported Hillary Clinton's candidacy for President and believed that her election would be a victory for women across the country, Sarah Palin's slim qualifications and radical right-wing views would only set back the causes we hold dear.
Once again, Congressman Kirk, your support for Sarah Palin shows that you are more concerned with supporting the Republican Party and continuing with more of the same disastrous policies of the last 8 years than standing up for women in the 10th District.
You can view the full letter here.
ANNE FRANCES ROBERTS (not verified) on Thu, 09/04/2008 - 20:41
McCain, who has shown manifestly sexist behavior toward women, demonstrates a new low in cynicism by claiming that Palin is the victim of sexism. Just like the women in the article above, I find it offensive that a woman whose views are so diammetrically opposed to me is supposed to be a sop.
Hillary Clinton's strength is in the issues she supports, and her gender is secondary. Barack Obama comes closer than either John McCain or Sarah Palin in articulating my views as a woman. On top of McCain's opposition to equal pay for equal work, this pick is a direct insult.
Ellen Beth Gill (not verified) on Fri, 09/05/2008 - 14:21
I couln't help sharing this one from my blog:
UPDATE: I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. A commenter linked us to Mark Kirk's comments on Sarah Palin (former mayor of Wasilla) and he's touting her killing the "Bridge to No Where", but apparently, there was another bridge project that she allowed, the bridge to Wasilla. So much for stopping pork barrel projects. Poor Mark, back to the drawing board.
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