Because She's a Woman, Why Else?

It's no secret to those that know me - I'm a Barack Obama supporter. Actually, I'm more than a supporter - I've *gasp* campaigned for him. Alright - I'll go ahead and confess the whole story - I've campaigned for him when he *gasp* was running against Hillary Clinton.

Yes, I know - I'm a traitor to women everywhere. A woman ran for the highest office in the land and I refused to help her put another few cracks in the glass ceiling. How could I? After all - she's a woman. Never mind that I don't trust her or that I believed several other candidates would have made a better choice - she's a woman DAMMIT!!

Now I have another chance to redeem myself. Sarah Palin is running for the second highest office in the land, but I'm a traitor again because I'm not going to vote for someone with whom I disagree on every major political issue. What? She's a woman DAMMIT!! We women should stick together because the pundits, many politicians and even some women say that women will vote for women BECAUSE they're women. Women should never betray other women!

I would *love* to see a woman as President or Vice President - truly I would. In fact, it kills me that the two women who have been closest to the offices were women I could not in good conscience vote for. I will not, however, vote for a woman *because* she's a woman any more than I would vote for Barack Obama because he's African American or Bill Richardson because he's Hispanic.

My vote is given to the person with whom I most agree on the issues. I would hope that's how every American would vote (yes, again, I know that's not the case but it *should* be). Of course, it may be difficult for some people to actually even determine the candidates' positions on the issues because first they must wade through innuendos, distortions, misdirection, and even flagrant lies.

Take Lipstick Gate as an example. Yes, that's what Newsweek is calling the current stink brewing between the Obama and McCain camps. Here's what started it all.





The McCain camp is loudly alleging that Obama's "lipstick" remark was a direct, sexist attack on Sarah Palin. Their proof - Sarah Palin in her VP address at the GOP told the stale joke that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull was lipstick. Doesn't matter than Obama was clearly speaking about John McCain's claim that his policies will bring change to Washington. Doesn't matter that it's a commonly used phrase. Representatives from the GOP are hitting all the networks telling people that women everywhere should be outraged by Obama's *sexist* remarks and they know that they will be because women are smart enough to see through Obama (see a little NLP in that last part?) How incredibly insulting to thinking women everywhere.

Hopefully women are smart enough to say stop this idiotic misdirection all of you (both sides) and focus on the issues. I don't care if you're male, female, Republican, or Democrat - tell me what you are going to do to fix the mess this country is in. I'll decide for myself who gets my vote based on your positions on the issues.