An Open Letter to Sarah Palin

I'm writing to you as an American woman. I'm what the liberal media calls a disgruntled Hillary supporter. That same left wing media has argued that part of the reason John McCain picked you as his running mate is because you'd be more likely to win the support of people like me. See, I supported Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama primarily because she's a woman. But does that mean I'll support you and your ticket over Obama?

I might be so inclined if I believed that you'd protect the values I have as a woman. I have no children but I believe every child in America deserves a quality and affordable education, including a college education. I believe women and children alike ought to have access to affordable health care that doesn't sacrifice quality. I believe in equal pay for equal work, for both women and men. I disagree with the recent 5-4 Supreme Court ruling that gives people a 180 day deadline in which to protect their right for equal pay. But most of all, like 70% of Americans, I support a woman's right to choose whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term.

It was for these reasons that I supported Hillary Clinton for President. It is for these reasons that I will not support you or John McCain. Because, to put it bluntly Governor Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton.

While Hillary Clinton was campaigning for universal health care during her husband's presidency, you were busy trying to get books banned from your local library as mayor of your small town. While Hillary Clinton was strengthening education with higher standards and more teachers, you were arguing against the teaching of science in the classroom. While Senator Clinton was arguing to bring our troops home from Iraq, you were preaching to those in your fundamentalist church, soliciting prayers for pipelines and calling the Iraq war "a task from God." While Senator Clinton was defending sex education and contraceptive availability, your teenage daughter was getting pregnant, proving once and for all that abstinence programs do not work.

All this is not to say I don't like you. There are a lot of things I like about you, Governor Palin. You're a feisty woman unafraid to take on the status quo even if it is an old boys network. You're a former athlete and so am I. You and I both grew up with the idea that whatever boys can do, girls can do just as well, if not better. But even if you are from a small town, you've forgotten your roots. Paving the way for your opportunities were many women before you: Eleanor Roosevelt, Gloria Steinem, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Joyce Brothers, and most recently Hillary Clinton. None of them believed in restricting female freedom. None of them wanted the government's slimy hands on their bodies. Nor should you.

And as you value your second amendment, I wish you valued your first amendment as much. Your college degree is in journalism yet as a mayor you wanted to ban books, no doubt to pander to the religious right. You've opposed sex education classes, to pander to the religious right. Hell, you even admitted that you'd oppose your own daughter's right to choose if she were impregnated by a rape. You even oppose teen pregnancy prevention programs, both at school and at home, apparently.

Barack Obama might not be a woman but he'll protect my rights as a woman far more than you will or John McCain will. And the real reason I'm disgruntled is because people keep implying that we women aren't smart enough to tell the difference between you and Hillary Clinton. Those who believe you can weasel away my vote from he who has deserved it simply because we both pee sitting down are ignorant enough to buy a bridge to nowhere.

Better luck next time, Governor Palin. I'm not falling for it and neither is America.

Yours Sincerely,
A small town Obama girl