Sarah Palin: America's Affirmative Action Candidate

I remember a post that mentioned how Palin was using slang during the debate...claiming that if a black candidate were doing the same then he/she would get drilled. Then I saw this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yvonne-r-davis/sarah-palin-americas-affi_b_131784.html

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is America's Affirmative Action candidate! Everything opponents of the controversial Civil Rights measure they claim is wrong with Affirmative Action have all but vanished into thin air. With Palin's low expectation passing grade performance during the vice presidential debate, Republicans have complete amnesia about a policy measure they vehemently argue supports someone with Sarah Palin-like qualifications.

Republican adversaries of Affirmative Action say minorities are given chances due to purposefully-set inferior standards to create opportunity. Hence, resentment may come from a more qualified middle-aged white male who is passed over because of political expediency. In this case, Senator Joe Lieberman or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney -- although both declare they are thrilled with Palin as the most "qualified" candidate for Veep - were passed over. They too support the Affirmative Action move of bringing Palin on to the ticket.

Palin's recent television interviews with ABC News Charles Gibson and CBS Anchor Katie Couric seems to behind her now for the moment. However, the reality is, she still has limited capabilities to be vice president. With mediocrity being celebrated as the 21st century take away in presidntial politics, Palin being a proverbial heart beat away from the presidency should she and McCain win in November is still a scary thought.

Sarah Palin receives social promotion and free passes from Republicans despite her obvious avoidance of answering direct questions because she just does not know. In her debate against Senator Joe Biden, she executed her lines and cute jabs flawlessly. However, when the question was asked if the vice presidency was properly considered a part of the executive or legislative branch of government, it was quite visible she did not know. Palin skipped out on the answer briefly mentioning something about the framers and then grabbed and delivered her life line key message point. Palin is an example of what opponents of Affirmative Action would call someone who has "low level accountability" in her new position. Although the McCain campaign exhaled after the debate, she is still not ready for prime time media.

Palin being admitted to the vice president's slot fills a gender "quota." This is a fightin' word for Republicans. They will step into the ring with you if you use that dirty word! Conservatives would say the Palin pick is plain old-fashioned preferential treatment of a minority. Though she's very ill-equipped to handle the job, Republicans, are nonetheless willing to give her on-the-job training. She is given cliff notes and advanced copies of a mastery test to try and get her qualified. The Palin pick is very sad, but possibly a workable attempt to convince Americans -- particularly women - that to be less than average for one of the top spots in the world is okey dokey...if it's about winning.

If Palin is seen as a quota then her candidacy represents the most severe criticism by Republicans. She represents everything Republicans hate about Affirmative Action, but they are now willing to flip flop to get their gal in. Though this term is now over used, this is an actual example and meaning of what is called "lipstick on a pig" by the McCain campaign.

The Thursday night debate was a huge entrance exam to establish to the American public that Palin can prove she is up to the challenge. Palin verified it by showing us laxity in her statespersonship with cliches and colloquialism. She even used some "ebonics," got a little ghetto and threw a "shout out" to third graders in Alaska after she exclaimed that the education system for our children needed an overhaul - Go figure! Sarah Palin gets a big "You Go-girl,"with Republicans in tow lovin' the new urban-towny lingo style.

The vice presidency of the United States of America is not a game of style, cool vernacular and quit wittedness; all things Palin does exceptionally well. The Vice Presidency is not even about a "breath of fresh air." She looks fabulous. The vice presidency is about substance. It is about having a person who can be taken very seriously by not only American Joe six-pack to have a brewsky with or a hockey mom to curse out the coach for benching their son, but a leader who in a moment's notice can lead the entire world if necessary.

Normally, someone like Palin as the Affirmative Action candidate, Republicans would denounce and wince over -- however, they are willing to help her from start to finish so that if elected, she might be ready for the job some day.

 

And that's the problem. If a candidate were genuinly urban (and all urban slang doesn't involve profanity like another poster suggested), I don't think folks would give him/her that same pass. I'm pretty sure Obama would get drilled for giving someone, anyone a shoutout during a debate. Look at how much press he and his wife got for giving each other a pound on stage.

 

IMO, the article implied that Palin is not qualified enough to be VP, and that her party is ok with pushing her because they want to get votes. That's hypocrisy, not just from an AA perspective but for this race in general (the early parts of campaigning noted how Obama wasn't qualified). I understand your point but completely disagree with you that a VP pick should only be of age, from a state and be able to get you votes. I'm sure no high ranking Republican would go on record saying that's all a VP pick needs to have.

And when I say unqualified, I'm speaking on the knowledge in her head. She doesn't seem to know enough....

 

I agree that she was only selected to get votes. I also think it was smart to try. She still isn't qualified for the job, and I think that's what the writer was trying to convey. I.E. we are down with this method when it's to our advantage but we usually would not support something like this.