Voting on Principle or Candidates?

With the announcement late last week that Republican Presidential nominee John McCain taking on Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate, there was a lot of talk over whether or not this would mean that the voters who had been steadfastly loyal to erstwhile Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton would suddenly make the switch to support McCain. Now while I'm sure that there were some who made that decision the moment Palin's name was put forward, but really, are women voters really that shallow? Now I don't mean to take anything away from Sarah Palin who I'm sure is a smart woman and a good leader (she is currently serving as Governor in Alaska) but do people think that just because she's a woman that she'll suddenly become the catalyst that leads to history being made?

Regardless of which candidate you are behind, I think it is safe to assume that one way or another, this next election is going to be historic. Either an African-American will be voted into the office of President or a woman will serve as Vice President. Both important turns in history that will finally show that for all our talk of being a diverse nation, we can actually be led by people who would once have been barred from even entering a voting booth. I think it says a lot that now, finally in the 20th Century, America is catching up to the rest of the world (in terms of diverse leadership) and is seeking to elect someone based on their skills rather than their race, color or creed. At least I hope so.

And the reason I hope is because I don't want to think that we're so shallow a society that we will switch sides or loyalties just because someone is representative (at least on the surface of what we want). I can honestly say that though I follow politics, I don't know as much as some people and the announcement of Sarah Palin last week as the candidate for Vice President on the Republican ticket left me a little perplexed from the standpoint that I hadn't heard much about her until then. Sure she's got scandals coming out now but aside from that, we hadn't really heard much about her and at the outset, everyone seemed to think, "replace one woman in the race with another and you'll retain votes". Well sure, in theory that would work but in having tried to educate myself on her more I have realized that she can't be farther from Hillary Clinton on a variety of issues.

Now I don't want to sit here and debate the relative merits and demerits of Palin versus Clinton but I think it's safe to say that the supporters of Hillary Clinton supported her because of what she stood for and what she fought for. With elections coming up in November (only a few short weeks away), the McCain-Palin camp will have to get the lead out to get people aware of who Palin is and what she stands for. Sure there will be people that will vote for McCain simply because they want to see a woman in the White House (even though the Vice President lives at the Naval Observatory off of Massachusetts Avenue) but I'm sure the majority out there will want to know more about what she believes and therein is where she can either make or break campaign. She may get some support because of her gender but I would hope that we've advanced enough as a society not to use that as the sole means of determining whether we support someone or not.