Last night I watched the 2008 Republican National Convention. It was a historic night and I will never forget it. Sarah Palin was nominated for vice-president of the United States on the Republican ticket and she stunned the convention crowd and the nation by demonstrating strength, intelligence, and a national level of comfort in a position of great pressure and expectation. She showed that having passion and ambition doesn’t mean you lose yourself or your values or your belief in yourself.
My husband reminded me that even the most influential and successful presidents America has ever had have been unknowns before they took office. Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman and others did not fit the model or appearance of a seasoned world leader. They were dark horse candidates and widely unknown.
They were positioned by fate to lead the country. There were the leaders who made some of the most difficult and world-altering decisions a human being has ever had to make.
Last night was profound not because of party platforms or issues. Not because of the conservative voice or convictions of morality. It was a stunning and breathtaking achievement because she came, she saw, and she kicked ass.
Never again will a female candidate be underestimated or written off before she even starts her campaign. Women have achieved great things in the US Congress and are world shapers around the globe. But Sarah Palin leveled the playing field for Americans, as a politician and, for me, even more importantly, she showed the daughters of the newest generation that a woman of strength is a reality, a hero, a history maker and that the glass ceiling Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton beat so hard upon and almost took apart received the final blow needed to shatter it and watch it fall away.
Now, some of the shards are going to cut deep. The unbalanced mania and viciousness of the attacks on her, largely because of gender, may end up hurting her beyond hope and kill her pursuit of history. It is pure speculation to predict what the future holds for Sarah. She may be too new to the world stage to maintain her popularity in the face of a vicious, sexist media and the Washington political machine that says a young, pretty woman can’t be smart, she can’t be a military leader, she can’t understand or become educated about foreign policy and steer the course, she can’t make the tough decisions that men think have been their privilege throughout our history.
And there is the issue of her politics. Many voters are twitchy about her stance on sex education, abortion, and values regarding education. Her comfort in professing her faith could backfire in a country that doesn’t like to see people invoke the name of God and seek divine guidance in positions of power. We worry that we will wake up under the thumb of religious fascism and our social policies and the rights of women will return to the dark ages.
But there are certain truths that have made my heart sing. She has shown us all a woman can galvanize the attention of the nation and the world in a single speech. More citizens watched the convention last night than at any other time in the last fifty years, I’ll wager.
And, finally, my eight-year old daughter was riveted by the entire event. She watched from beginning to end and I wept with joy. She does not know or understand conservative vs. liberal. She doesn’t know what a Republican or a Democrat is and she doesn’t care. Neither do I. But I care that she will grow up knowing what strength, passion, commitment, and ability look like. She will never have to doubt that women are leaders and world-shakers. She will never realize until much later how hard we fought in my lifetime and my mother’s and her mother’s for this very moment.
This is not about politics anymore; that is secondary. This is about showing my daughter the future; a future where the glass ceiling is now a part of history.
Well written article.
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