... because women just can't speak to reporters

There was a bit too much of a sense of déjà vu today when Caroline Kennedy was shepherded away from reporters by her aides when asked a question about her qualifications for being senator. When asked the question, Kennedy apparently began to answer the question (I know, I know, what audacity) before being immediately hurried away by her aides. The poor woman actually said, "Hopefully I can come back and answer all those questions," while she climbing into her car. Not quite as bad as Palin telling Katie Couric that she needed to call and ask someone about the answer to question, but same general concept.

This continuing perception that female politicians are essentially unable to roll with the punches the way their male counterparts do is disturbing in and of itself. But it speaks to a larger problem of women being pushed to the forefront of the political scene for what they are (women) rather than what they've done. In some bizarre attempt to replace Hillary Clinton in the heart of the feminist movement, first the Republican and now the Democratic Party (well, to be fair, she has yet to actually be appointed) have rushed into filling the void with some woman, any woman, who hopefully could manage to provide some other vote catching mechanism as well. In Palin's case, she had the added benefit of shoring up the base. And in Kennedy's case, well, I think we all know what she brings to the table. The fact of the matter is, there are qualified women in both parties (Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Kathleen Sebelius, Olympia Snow and Barbara Boxer, to name a few, along with recent Obama Cabinet pick Janet Napolitano). So why keep supporting unqualified candidates with some amount of star power? Well, in part, perhaps, because that seems to be a working formula for many male politicians (care to recollect our current president?), but also because there seems to be some sort of consensus that voters will only stand behind a woman if they associate her either with powerful male leaders or "strong family values" (which apparently means instilling the value of teenage pregnancy). However, why everyone keeps harping on this formula that didn't work for Palin (more voters, in the end, had a negative view of her than a postive one) is beyond me.

Another ringing endorsement for McCain

So, when asked by reporters whom she cast her ballot for, Sarah Palin bizarrely replied that she was "exercising her right to privacy" (apparently, not a right that she would want to extend to, you know, women's bodies' or anything, but you know let's not get too crazy here) and refused to answer the question. Joan Walsh's explanation seems to be that perhaps Sarah wrote in her own name at the top of the ticket. Whatever the case, it does seem a strange moment to decide not to make a ringing endorsement of your presidential candidate.

the latest (?) palin embarrassment

So, evidently, Palin spent five minutes on the phone yesterday speaking to a person with an absurd French accent whom she believed to be President Sarkozy. Turns out, she had been prank called by my now favorite Quebecois comedy duo, the Masked Avengers. First off, let's give credit where credit's due, both Palin and her assistant (Bexsy?) seem to know who President Sarkozy is, or at least that he is a real and not fictitious important person. Beyond that, Joan Walsh, of Salon.com, notes that Palin:

Might have known she was being pranked by Quebec comedy duo Masked Avengers when a comedian posing as French president Nicolas Sarkozy talked about going hunting with Palin by helicopter, and exclaimed, "I just love killing those animals, taking away life, that is so fun!" He also asked if Joe the Plumber was her husband, and told her he enjoyed "the documentary they made on your life, 'Nailin' Palin,' that was really edgy," a reference to a recent Palin-inspired porn film.

So, should Palin have been able to figure out that it wasn't Sarkozy? Perhaps not. After all, Palin's cardinal belief about influential world leaders seems to be that they don't need to (or perhaps shouldn't) have any knowledge about influential domestic court cases or prominent national newspapers let alone have any curiosity, intellectual or otherwise, about what goes on outside the borders of their own state. I'm sure that she found Sarkozy's confusion about her relationship to Joe the Plumber and the genre of "Nailin' Palin" to be not only understandable, but the undeniable mark of positive, uninformed leadership.