An email I sent

To http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/

To whom it may concern,

I am not an American woman, but a Canadian citizen. Fifteen years ago, we experienced our first female Prime Minister, a Conservative named Kim Campbell. As much as I was not exactly strongly politically astute at 11 years old, I did have the sense even then that, as much as I was proud as a girl of having a woman as Prime Minister, it didn't just matter that she was female, but competent. Sadly, she wasn't, and she set the movement of women in politics back years - we have not since had a female party leader come any further than third place in our elections.

I disapprove of Sarah Palin as a candidate - her anti-choice, pro-gun, anti-sex education, pro-corporation, anti-contraception, pro-corruption political makeup are personally rancid to me as a centre-leftist, and a longtime Clinton supporter, insofar as I have 'favourites' in American politics. However, I also disapprove of the fact that as the most public and famous woman in the country right now, she will somehow be perceived as standing for myself, or my American counterparts, as women. I simply hope the American public realizes that one can be the good things Mrs. Palin is - a supportive and loving mom, an eager grandmother-to-be, and an educated and (by all accounts) intelligent woman - without taking the lamentable negatives she represents as a politician.

It disappoints me that someone in her position, as the mother of a pregnant teenager and a disabled infant, a very educated and, by all accounts, intelligent woman, and a woman who shares the same Christian faith as I do, can stand for the things she stands for. What is best for women, to empower them and enable them to have better chances than their mothers and grandmothers, includes the ability to make informed decisions about one's sex life, having as many options as possible at their disposal to deal with the repercussions of those decisions (especially in the case where those decisions weren't their own, for example in the case of rape, abortions for which Mrs. Palin also opposes), and social programs accessible for themselves and their families ensuring their health and employability. Mrs. Palin does not represent any of these things.

As a woman, if I were able to vote in the United States of America in 2008, Barack Obama would have my vote. I hope that others like myself recognize that and agree. And for anyone who believes the Republican pandering that this woman is somehow a stand-in for Hillary Clinton, who was unfortunately denied the chance to be the Democratic nominee this time around - please do not lose sight of the fact that all she and Mrs. Clinton have in common is their gender, which does not matter at the end of the day. If you want to see a glass ceiling broken, while still having someone in the White House who represents positive change and looks after the American people, vote Obama in November. Yes we can!

Thank you,
Sarah Daigen
Kitchener Ontario