blog entry

Palin Makes Progress

Liz O'Donnell

Governor Sarah Palin delivered a knock-out speech at the Republican National Convention. She was on-message, relevant, tough, human, funny, smart and feminine all at the same time. And in doing so, she made progress.

As a society we still prefer women in politics to be the first lady: mom, wife, and homemaker above all else. Sarah Palin let us know she is all of those things. But then she cut right to her experience as a mayor and a governor. She talked about fighting the old boys network in Alaska. She trumpeted her accomplishments and she was aggressive in her attacks against Senator Obama. And, she wasn’t afraid to mention the PTA and lipstick, or to hold her infant on the national stage.

Sarah Palin did what Hillary Clinton was never able to do. The Governor of Alaska showed us she was a multi-dimensional woman in politics. She mixed the traits Washington usually requires of a woman: devouted wife, loving mom and cookie baker, with the characteristics considered necessary for a woman to compete in a man’s world: aggressive, self-promoting, tough.

Unfortunately, I believe Governor Palin was free to be multi-dimensional because she is going for the number two spot instead of the number one and because her political positions are less threatening to many than Hillary’s are.  True progress will come when a woman contends for the top spot, in a skirt, with lipstick, a strong agenda, and in full support of woman’s rights. But Sarah Palin, mother of five, knows you have to walk before you crawl.