What She Is and What She Isn't

This good point from my friend Melissa Hefferlin, on Palin: "In considering the McCain choice of running mate, one marvels at the more qualified, more senior women he passed over in order to choose Palin. What she IS perhaps makes sense for him: a woman, heavy on family values, hard-right conservative, oil-aligned, young, pretty, perky in a really annoying way (sorry, it slipped out). However, I am insulted that McCain finds genuine qualifications utterly beside the point, and believes that women like myself (white, 40, middle class), or anyone, would be placated and seduced by a V. P. candidate choice of anyone from my gender, never mind that she has been in politics for about six seconds, with a background in PTA. This choice is terrifying in what Palin is (ferociously white and right-wing), but even more so, in what she is not. This choice is insulting to the office, and to the voters. At least I hope it is.
Melissa Hefferlin