I learned the hard way about two weeks ago, that when you have an idea, especially a good one, you’d better not sit on it too long because someone else will beat you to the punch.
As all writers, I keep a list of long-term post ideas. And on my list (really, I swear) was one about how Democratic women need a Sarah Palin of our own if we want to give our national political aspirations a good jump start! Not a Sarah Palin who isn’t sure what newspapers she reads or the Sarah Palin who can’t keep three key points in her head at a time, but the Sarah Palin who seems to excite the women of her political party beyond any logical explanation.
Unfortunately, Rebecca Traister and Anna Holmes beat me to the punch. Of course, because of who they are (Traister has a new book coming out that I can’t wait to read and interview her about), they were able to get an op-ed placed in the New York Times entitled A Palin of Our Own, so their take on it obviously is going to get more traction than if little ol’ PunditMom called up those big time editors! But their point deserves a little more discussion.
The reason I hadn’t written about this theory yet is because I was still thinking about who our Sarah Palin should be. Would identifying a Democratic woman as our Sarah Palin be an insult? Or would it serve as a notice to Democratic women that, for better or worse, it’s not a bad thing to combine some folksy, down-home soundbites and good, old-fashioned girl connections as a way to connect with voters on a more visceral level?
There are plenty of Democratic women who are well-known and well-respected, even by their conservative opponents, like U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York, just to name a few. These are amazingly talented, intelligent and insightful politicians. And there are plenty of us wonky types who have political girl crushes on all of them! But, sadly, I don’t think any of them have that elusive Sarah Palin quality that makes the screaming masses go wild when she walks on stage at a speech or a rally.
One thing Klobuchar, Wasserman Schultz and Gillibrand share with Sarah Palin is that they are all mothers. And Palin has played the mother card for all it’s worth for reaching out to her loyal minions. But it’s not just her motherhood experience that has made the former Alaska governor the popular phenomenon that she’s become.
Palin is a combination of things that many women aren’t — she works that “I’m just a woman of the little people” angle like nobody’s business, she enjoys playing the victim in the childhood haves vs. have-nots debates, she proudly wears her opportunism on her sleeve and she isn’t afraid to get out there and sell her persona and political messages at some of the off-the-radar events. And, somehow, that approach has successfully tapped into some voters’ personal issues in a way that makes many see Palin as a woman of the people, regardless of whether she really understands anything about how the economy works, the history of the Middle East or nuclear disarmament.
Perhaps even more importantly, Palin has become a symbol to so many Republican women who’ve been fighting for a place at the political table, but never quite seem to be able to elbow their way in. Regardless of how she comes across in terms of experience or intellect, for many GOP women, Palin was, and remains, a long drink of cool water in the desert of national Republican political involvement.
While women are still the vast minority in Congress, Republican women are the minority of that minority. All women have a long way to go on the national political stage, but at least Democratic women have seen a couple of examples before Palin made her way out of the Alaska frontier to know that it’s possible for women to break through. Republican women, not so much.
Traister and Holmes conclude that the left-wing is overlooking the appetite for female leadership in this country. I learned from the research on my Mothers of Intention book (I hope I can send Traister a copy!) that they hit the nail on the head — but it’s really both major political parties that aren’t seeing it, not just the Democrats. Another equally important factor that the Democratic leadership is ignoring is this — there are plenty of women who don’t care whether the next woman who runs for the White House is a Democrat or a Republican. If there’s a woman candidate on the Presidential ticket, they’ll vote for her (even if it’s Sarah Palin) regardless of whether there’s a (D) or (R) after her name.
I spoke those words to room full of serious politicos at the Netroots Nation conference this summer and received a round of shouts as if I’d just said I would vote for Palin myself. I understand that reaction, but if we ignore the reality that women have reached the end of their ropes about a lack of high-level female leadership in both parties, we Democrats will deserve what we get next time around.
I’m not saying I want any of my favorite women politicians to turn into slightly less annoying versions of Sarah Palin. I don’t need to see any of them fishing for salmon, hunting for moose or getting all defensive about their reading material. But for more Democratic women to move up in the ranks of leadership, we need a woman who somehow finds a way to resonate with people in the way that Palin does, and in the way that Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did for their respective fans.
We don’t have to make ourselves out to be “mama grizzlies,” but if women want more places at the political table, we need to accept the fact that whether we agree with Palin’s politics or not, we might be able to take advantage of her populist playbook to take our rightful places at the table of political leadership.
Photo courtesy of Jezebel blog
September 7th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Regardless of gender it is hard to combine folksy and the perception of being intelligent. It can be done, Bill Clinton is brilliant and brilliant at it. But for women there is an added challenge, you all (unfairly) have to work so much harder to be taken seriously and sometimes the very thing that can add to your “likability” can undermine your creditability. I think this can be true for men as well, look at some of the criticisms of Obama. But it is an added challenge for women.
September 7th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
You know I’ve felt this way for a long time. Sarah Palin is dynamic.
Previous to this moment I had thought of the Democratic Party as the one which pushed more female leadership forward.
Except Sarah Palin pushed HERSELF forward in her party, whether the Republican establishment liked it or not.
I wrote a post about 2 years ago in which I threatened, on BlogHer.com, to vote for Sarah myself if Democratic women couldn’t find and get behind a Dynamic Democratic Woman instead of spending all their time trashing Hillary and Sarah.
Of course that post will be in Mother’s of Intention.
My point is this – there are a million or more Dynamic Democratic Women in The United States. Educated, qualified and who’s politics don’t directly conflict with my own. Where is she? And WHY are the Democrats not pushing her into the limelight even now where she can score some name recognition and voter identification? Now is when I should be following our own SuperStar’s career and assisting in the push. NOW.
The closest we’ve come to a SuperStar is Michelle Obama and I have to say that being married to the President doesn’t make one a political leader. Hillary had this problem, I knew several people who just didn’t want to make it a family affair (especially after Bush.)
September 7th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
I loved (actually still do love) Arnie Arnesen in New Hampshire. Arnie paved the way for Jeanne Shaheen to become the state’s first woman governor. As Arnie (and now Hillary) know, the person who opens the door doesn’t always get to walk through it.
Arnie was at least 15 years ahead of her time. When she was running the Democratic party gave her virtually no support — but every disaffected person in the state loved her! On election night her headquarters was a rainbow of people. I think every African American in the state was there!
She’s brilliant, and not afraid to speak her mind. The party didn’t back her because she spoke out against the welfare reform bill Clinton signed (right before the people he was trying to appease impeached him!).
September 8th, 2010 at 8:54 am
The funny part is that you don’t anything about Palin. You have let one gaffe paint your perception. You would be surprised what a dynamic leader Palin is.
Try to incorporate some more research into your writing
September 8th, 2010 at 11:06 am
I’ve got my hiking boots, my minivan, a pocket knife, and a copy of Time Travelers Wife in my recycled L.L Bean back pack.
Just hand me my tiara.
September 8th, 2010 at 11:16 am
It was said that Jane Swift who was an acting governor here in Massachusetts became a Republican because the long entrenched Dems had no room for her in their party. I don’t know how much truth there is to this, but Swift was a very moderate Republican. Unfortunately, the very fact of her motherhood and the burdens that it placed on her weighed heavily in people’s discussions of her effectiveness and she was savaged for taking a state police copter home to the Western part of the state when one of her children was ill (MA does not have a governor’s residence and we should have cut her the slack).
The women who I have heard positively from and about in the Democratic party are Marcie Kaptur in OH and Rosa Di Lauro in CT. I would love to hear more from them. We also have a state rep here in my area that I have been very impressed by and hope to see more from. She is just beginning her legislative career and I’m not sure she would have plans for higher office.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
The problem is that to get the kind of publicity that Palin gets, we’d need someone who has no problem with twisting the truth and use fear and inflammatory statements to motivate “the base.” That’s exactly the kind of person thoughtful people would hate.
How about if we get the press to give coverage to smart women who speak the truth and work to make lives better? Maybe we can all win the lottery too! LOL!
Wesley – Joanne has documented gaffe after gaffe after flat out lie from Palin on this blog. I sounds like she’s done much more research on that subject than you have. Palin’s not stupid. We all know that. But she remains almost deliberately ignorant on so many subjects because she just doesn’t think it’s important to delve any deeper. I’m sure she’s a dynamic leader and a good talking head. But most of us want something of more substance in our leaders.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
OH & Jo – when can we preorder your book?! (-;
October 18th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
What I find interesting about this post and the following replies is that you make all of these empty accusations and statements about Sarah Palin and suddenly that becomes truth. Lawyer Mama you make these accusations that she’s ignorant and a fear monger, but follow up with nothing to vilify such a statement. A lot of your remarks are so stale and used over and over again by the main stream media that you all sounds like a bunch of “Stepford Wives”. Not to mention the fact that you find Sarah SO threatening your scrambling to find someone that can create the same dynamic in the political world and still manage to call her stupid. It’s like watching “Mean Girls”. Please give me something actually interesting to read. I’m bored.