Hillary Clinton Aides: 'Sexist double standard'

From Politico ~ Sarah Palin found some unlikely allies Wednesday as leading academics and even former top aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton endorsed the Republican charge that John McCain’s running mate has been subject to a sexist double standard by the news media and Democrats.

Georgetown University professor Deborah Tannen, who has written best-selling books on gender differences, said she agrees with complaints that Palin skeptics — including prominent voices in the news media — have crossed a line by speculating about whether the Alaska governor is neglecting her family in pursuit of national office.

“What we’re dealing with now, there’s nothing subtle about it,” said Tannen. “We’re dealing with the assumption that child-rearing is the job of women and not men. Is it sexist? Yes.”

“There’s no way those questions would be asked of a male candidate,” said Howard Wolfson, a former top strategist for Clinton’s presidential campaign.

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Women Rally To Palin, Rip Media, Obama

An A-list of women in politics backing John McCain went on the offensive Wednesday, accusing the media and the Obama campaign of blatant sexism in their treatment of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a move intended to clear the brush ahead of her public debut at the Republican National Convention.

McCain’s running mate, who greeted the Arizona senator as he arrived in St. Paul, is scheduled to headline the convention Wednesday night.

It will be a chance for her to address, or simply ignore, reports surrounding her unmarried teenage daughter’s pregnancy, ethical questions regarding her actions as Alaska’s governor and a swirl of blog and tabloid allegations.

Five conservative women censured the media Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, saying they were outraged and insulted by Palin’s treatment and comparing it to the way Hillary Clinton was treated during the Democratic primary.

“The Republican Party will not stand by while Sarah Palin is subjected to sexist attacks,” said top McCain adviser Carly Fiorina, defending Palin as qualified and declaring women would not “stand for it” when she is subjected to such attacks. “As women, I think all of us are sensitized and outraged when we see sexist treatment.”

Former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin said she was “incensed” by the coverage of Palin.
“Governor Palin has a record of achievement,” said former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift. “She is more prepared than Barack Obama to be president of the United States.”

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Guest Column: 'A Time-warped Sexist Assault'

When Joe Biden tragically lost his wife and infant daughter in a car wreck in 1972, not a single colleague, friend or competitor advised him to quit his newly won Senate seat to raise his two little surviving sons.

Guest Column By Andrea Peyser, New York Post

Rather, he was sworn into office from the injured boys' bedside, and took to commuting an hour and a half each way from Delaware to Washington. And when Biden's second wife gave birth to a daughter, no one thought to ask him to step aside and stay home.

They all do it. John Kennedy did it; so did Barack Obama: Men run for office and serve in elected positions while creating small children without ever being patronized as "super dads" or "multi-taskers."

Nor are they penalized, ridiculed or dismissed for ignoring their kids. They're good dads.

If Sarah Palin, tapped as John McCain's running mate, were a man, it's unlikely we'd even be having this conversation. (A man, or a Democrat.)

Palin is a mother five times over. She also hunts, fishes, coaches hockey, has a day job as the governor of the state of Alaska - and is known to commute home from the state capital of Anchorage daily during session. Just like Biden.

And, until at least four months ago, Palin also had the ability to bear a child, which we've just learned is a talent she shares with her 17-year-old daughter.

But women on the left, who fought long and hard for the ability to raise children simultaneously with election cash, are in spasms. (Some have simply kept silent. Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton - where are you?)

The same lefty media that studiously ignored the adolescence of Chelsea Clinton can't wait to dig into Bristol Palin.

The Diary section of Daily Kos Web site had a curious way to make Palin's daughter into a campaign issue: "Considering Palin was chosen solely for her religious right family values cred, Bristol's shotgun marriage and pregnancy are very fair game. They are the direct result of this lunatic abstinence-only garbage, and should be highlighted as such."

The stupendously sexist New York Times printed a front-page article noting that some unnamed women argue over "whether there are enough hours in the day for her to take on the vice presidency, and whether she is right to try."

Which left the field weirdly clear for Phyllis Schlafly, who helped defeat the Equal Right Amendment - and also ran for Congress while raising six children - to tell the Times, "People who don't have children, or who have only one or two, are kind of overwhelmed at the notion of five children."

The only question we should be asking is: Can Sarah Palin do the job?

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Pro-Hillary Group Rips Palin 'Misogynist Smears'

From The Hill ~ A women's group that hosted Hillary Rodham Clinton during an event at the Democratic convention last week is expressing outrage "against misogynist smears" directed at Sarah Palin (by the news media).

WomenCount, a nonprofit organization focused on women’s issues, released a statement on Tuesday titled "Sexism and Sarah Palin."

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