Palin Has Set Women in the Workplace Back 50 Years

It is hard to reconcile in my mind how anyone could conceive that Sarah Palin won the Vice Presidential Debate. In order to "win" a debate, you have to present persuasive and compelling arguments on a given topic. Palin didn't participate in a debate because she was too busy giving a canned speech and reciting catchy phrases she hoped would make the American public believe that she is "just like you"... wink, wink.

Had Ifill actually asked Palin follow-up questions, we would have clearly seen the deer-in-the-headlights look we saw in the Couric interviews again. Palin didn't answer the questions last night, and couldn't answer them for Couric. She had the gall to announce that she was going to refuse to answer the questions the night of the debate and then says she was "annoyed" that Couric wouldn't allow her to derail the interview in the same way. When you are the person being interviewed, or participating in a debate, you don't get to call the shots. You answer the damned questions and no, you don't get to pose your own. What an incredible sense of entitlement this woman has.

Her cutesie-pie act is insulting to women and her constant references to Joe 6-pack, haaackey maaams and saaaacer maaams and middle class America should be insulting to anyone. And make no mistake--it was an act. She used no accent during 75% of her presentation, but it suddenly came out when trying to appeal with all of you she thinks are too stupid to actually learn about issues. Wink-wink, golly-gosh-darn, bless-your-heart,maverick, reform, reform, maverick. She spoke down to Americans and basically said we should vote for her ticket because she's just so darn cute and just like you. Let's look at what the truth is. Her and Taaaaddd make over $250K per year and have $1 mill+ in assets. They are NOT middle class by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the middle class can't afford designers suits and several pairs of $400 eyeglasses. Most of the middle class doesn't have huge stock portfolios. A good portion of us don't have affordable health insurance.

Her winking, flirtatious performance at the vice presidential debate reminds me of the type of woman who sleeps her way to the top in business. Other women have remarked to me that it reminded them of the woman who steals your husband all the while pretending to be your best friend. These are the negative female stereotypes that those of us who have careers fought so hard to overcome. And she dishes it right back to us, claming that she is breaking a glass ceiling for women everywhere. In actuality, she is pressing hard on top of that glass, smothering the women underneath it, and sneering and winking at the Republican, patriarchal and sexist machine cheering behind her as she looks for approval.

If I had been interviewing her for a job I would have tossed her resume into the trash can if she answered my interview questions like she answered Ifill and Couric. And if she had winked at me during an interview, I would have shown her the door faster than it could have hit her in her shiny designer skirt.

The performance was insulting to our intelligence, and demeaning to every woman that has had to make it in educational settings and in the workplace on the strength of her abilities, not on her looks and not on her sexuality.