governor palin, you are no Hillary Clinton

My transition to supporting Senator Obama has happened in three stages:

Stage One: a reluctant attempt to fulfill a promise I made to myself and my Obama-supporting friends. This stage was accompanied by much sighing and thoughts of, "Okay, at least he's not McCain."

Stage Two: a cathartic re-mourning for my candidate after her speech and floor actions at the DNC, followed by an emotional release. Stage Two was characterized by some misty moments, but a sense of relief that she wanted me to support Obama. (Shoot me. I'm a girl.)

Stage Three: Sarah Palin. Are you kidding me? I sent my first donation to the Obama campaign immediately following her speech at the Republican National Convention.

My immediate, visceral reaction to the announcement of Governor Palin as Senator McCain's running mate was, "he's pandering to women voters." Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that had Obama chosen Clinton as his running mate, McCain would have chosen a white man to counteract a culturally progressive ticket?

Rest assured, my Obama-loving friends, I'm not one of those Hillary supporters who believed Obama would or should have picked Clinton. Get real. He would have spent the whole time competing with the Clinton legacy (the good, the bad, and the ugly). Clinton knew that. I knew that. And I don't blame him one bit.

Instead he chose the person he thought would give him the best council, challenge his views and assumptions, and, for the political side of things, shore up support among a constituency Obama struggles to connect with - white-skinned, blue-collared men.

McCain, on the other hand, made a stunningly political choice. A choice intended to win an election, not to govern a nation.

In her announcement speech, she (and her scriptwriters) brazingly sent a shout out to disenfranchised Hillary supporters to try to bring them into the McCain fold. She repeated the effort in her interview with Charlie Gibson.

Well, I am here to tell you that Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton.

Policies aside, as they are diametrically opposed on nearly everything from stem cell research to drilling in ANWR to energy policy to tax policy to you name it, Hillary Clinton was eminently more qualified to serve as president than Ms. Palin is to serve as Vice President.

What Clinton understands, and Palin does not, is that experience, knowledge and qualifications matter. That is why she did not seek to run in 2004 after only 4 years in the US Senate. Instead, she sought out positions on the Senate Armed Services Committee to balance out her social services expertise with foreign policy and national security expertise. She doubled down on delivering on her promises to her constituents in upstate New York's small towns and rural communities. In 2006, she won re-election to the Senate with an overwhelming 67% of the vote.

Clinton began her career serving on the staff of the House Judiciary Committee considering the impeachment of Richard Nixon in the early 1970s, and later worked with the Children's Defense Fund, ran a legal aid clinic while teaching law at the University of Arkansas, and led an ambitious and successful reform effort in Arkansas schools as First Lady there.

She took an earnest stab at trying to get us national health insurance. Her years as First Lady of the United States also gave her unparalled access to world leaders and the world stage. Her speech at the United Nations 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 is still heralded as a turning point in American policy towards women in the developing world as well as on world views towards women.

Sarah Palin says her 2007 trip to Kuwait and Germany to visit Alaskan National Guardsmen, shortly after getting her first passport, was "life changing." Great. How about going on a backpacking trip around Europe and leaving the governing of the most powerful nation on earth during one of the most dangerous times in world history to those who know what they are doing.

Women cannot and should not be satisfied with the token nomination of Sarah Palin.