I Guess It's A Good Thing?

When I was a kid my father shared these words of wisdom with me:

“Kyra,” he said, “there was a time when if you saw one Black person in the choir or lined up with the other backup singers you knew that was the most talented person in the group. That person HAD to have been amazingly talented if anyone was going to let him be up on that stage at all.”
Then he laughed and added, “Now I listen to the radio and watch the music videos and I know things have changed. We’ve earned the right to suck as much as everybody else.”

He had a point. And now with the rise of Sarah Palin I have to wonder if women have earned that same dubious right when it comes to politics.

Anyone who has checked out my Myspace page knows I’m an Obama-girl but I’m not a hard core liberal. I’ve voted Republican before and I do understand why people support McCain. But Palin is another story. It seems that people have decided that she looks and talks the way a family-values-fiscal-conservative should look and talk. She fits the image…superficially.

We’re told that she hates earmarks but a few years ago when she was mayor she hired a lobbyist to help her get earmarks….lots and lots of earmarks. Alaskans get more earmarks dollars per capita than any other state. Hell, she asked for so many earmarks that McCain railed against the absurdity of one of her requests on the Senate floor.

We’re told she’s a fiscal conservative and yet taxes per capita in Alaska are 2 ½ times higher than the national average. Alaskan spending per capita is also more than double the national average.

The contradictions go on and on. Does this make her any worse then the majority of politicians? Not at all. And while I’ve heard all the evidence regarding various corruption allegations her supposed indiscretions are fairly mundane compared to those of the political offenders that usually make the news. She's also a good speaker, likable and great in front of a camera. So, unlike many liberals I don’t think she’s the Antichrist (please don’t prove me wrong Sarah) and unlike many conservatives I don’t think she should be sainted. She’s just another politician.

But, not so long ago, in order for a woman to succeed in politics she couldn’t be “just another” anything. She had to be smarter than everybody else. She had to be tougher, and more savvy. Not only would she have to know what the Bush Doctrine was but she’d have to be able to spell it backwards.

Geraldine Ferraro earned a Juris Doctor degree with honors even though she had to work as a second grade teacher during the entire time she was in law school. She made a name for herself when she was the head of the Special Victims Unit for the New York district attorney’s office. People expected that unit to turn over cases for prosecution but Ferraro often chose to conduct the trials herself and people were cool with that because she usually won. As a senator she was quickly named Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus and earned a seat on some of the most powerful committees.

Condoleeza Rice had her Bachelor degree by 19 and her PhD by 26. She was on the United States National Security Council during Regan’s administration. Quite a feat considering she had to commute between Washington and Palo Alto because while she was helping Regan with the Soviets she was also teaching at Stanford University.

Until recently every woman who was in a high political office had a story similar to this. Women politicians couldn’t just SAY they were better they had to actually BE better.

And now we have Sarah Palin.

We’ve come a long way baby.


Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING