Gail Collins is a New York Times columnist, former member of the editorial board, and author of a worthwhile book (recommended): America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines. So she's hardly someone who begrudges her fellow woman an exciting and prestigious new job. But she casts a wicked eye on John McCain's vice presidential choice.
"He was looking for someone who was well prepared to fight against international Islamic extremism, the transcendent issue of our time. And in the end he decided that in good conscience, he was not going to settle for anyone who had not been commander of a state national guard for at least a year and a half. He put down his foot!
"The obvious choice was Palin, the governor of Alaska, whose guard stands as our last best defense against possible attack by the resurgent Russian menace across the Bering Strait.
"Also a woman, but that’s totally beside the point."
Palin does have her good points. She is better than Mitt Romney.
"There’s a lot we don’t know yet about Palin, and I am personally looking forward to deconstructing her role in the Matanuska Maid Dairy closing crisis. But at first glance, she doesn’t seem much less qualified than Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota who most people thought was the most likely pick. Unlike Joe Lieberman, Palin is a member of the same party as the presidential candidate. And unlike Mitt Romney, she has never gone on vacation with the family dog strapped to the roof of the car."
Bottom line: will Palin cause women to leave the Democratic party in droves? Probably not. "The idea that women are going to race off to vote for any candidate with the same internal plumbing is both offensive and historically wrong."
And please, please, don't equate her with Hillary Clinton.
"This year, Hillary Clinton took things to a whole new level. She didn’t run for president as a symbol but as the best-prepared candidate in the Democratic pack. Whether you liked her or not, she convinced the nation that women could be qualified to both run the country and be commander in chief. That was an enormous breakthrough, and Palin’s nomination feels, in comparison, like a step back.
"If she’s only on the ticket to try to get disaffected Clinton supporters to cross over, it’s a bad choice. Joe Biden may already be practicing his drop-dead line for the vice-presidential debate: 'I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine, and governor, you’re no Hillary Clinton.'"
