Politics

WomenCount Stumps for Palin, Sort Of…

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The AP reports that WomenCount, "a group co-founded by top Hillary fundraiser Susie Tompkins Buell," the founder of Esprit and now a full-time philanthropist, has weighed in on certain attacks against GOP vice presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin.

"The very notion that Sarah Palin should not have accepted this nomination because she is a mother with demanding challenges underscores just how far we have to go," wrote Rosemary Camposano, the group's communications director.

She added: "It will be good for America to watch Sarah Palin on the campaign trail— bouncing from parenting to politics. That's how most women function—multi-tasking, leaning on friends and family, and waking up each morning and doing it all again."

The group notes, however, that they do not approve of Palin's politics.  "We cannot pretend that Governor Palin meets any standard of progressive politics or social values," Camposano writes.

Unlike other feminist organizations which have taken up against Palin because of her conservative views, however, WomenCount says they'll "work to stamp out sexism when we see it on the campaign trail."

"To paraphrase the words of one blogger who said it best over the weekend: We will defend Sarah Palin against misogynist smears not because we like her or support her, but because that's how feminism works."

More AP here. WomenCount site here.

That gets it just about right, I think. There is a lot in Palin's political record to contest, from virtually any perspective, but certainly from that of left-of-center liberals. And libertarians. Or anybody who likes less government spending. But the crap about Ma Palin being too busy with the kids to do her job is, well, crap.

All this week, reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward discusses Palin and feminism with Pandagon's Amanda Marcotte for The Los Angeles Times.

And boo on the LAT for practicing its own subtle form of sexism: It has a photo gallery of Palin dubbed "The Politics of Fashion" (including the Lynndie England-style thumb shot illustrating this blog post), something it has also done for political spouses Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain. Hey, when is the Todd Palin spread coming?