My former student, Hanley, called me this afternoon and said “You’re not voting for McCain, are you?”
Hanley teaches tough kids in New Hampshire (yes, they exist) and is writing a novel. He’s a smart kid himself and we talk about his writing a couple of times a month even though he graduated from UConn a few years ago. He took several classes with me and knows me pretty well.
He knew, therefore, that asking if I intend to vote for McCain is like asking me whether I’m going to start teaching Jazzercise or learning to skydive. These are not reasonable questions. Certainly not for a person who is sober.
But I hadn’t heard the news about Sarah Palin, you see. I hadn’t heard that McCain threw his trackers off-scent and decided to appoint a 44-year-old woman as his v.p. candidate.
Hanley was afraid that I would find her gender more persuasive than her politics.
I told him the truth: 1. I’d never heard of Sarah Palin; 2. I doubted whether even the most amazing woman could convince me to change my party allegiance.
Then I watched Palin’s acceptance speech. Then I read about her background and her beliefs.
And now I’m really, really scared.
This is a politician who opposes a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body even if an act of rape or incest necessitate the termination of an unwanted pregnancy; this is a politician who supported Pat Buchanan when he ran for president (remember how Molly Ivins said Buchanan’s speeches were so much better in the original German?); this is a politician who thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.
This is the poster girl of the far-right Conservative frat party; this is NOT someone who will do anything about the glass ceiling except make it stained glass and make sure it is covered entirely by a church steeple.
This is exactly the kind of broad who could give women a bad name.
Hanley said he signed up to work for the Obama campaign. I’ll be the first to say yes when he asks for signatures.
