September 1st 2008
Obama, Biden Blow First Palin Patter
F
lustered. That’s the sense you get of where the Obama campaign is on Sarah Palin. Today, in their first public comment on the GOP VEEP contender, both blew it.
Biden, natch, put his foot in his mouth, with a demeaning and tokenistic take on Palin
“There’s a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent. She’s good-looking.” (CNN)
Ha, ha. How self-depreciating. And how dismissive of Palin’s resume.
Obama, though, was worse, giving a comment that may well come back to haunt him:
At an economy town hall here Sunday afternoon, Obama said his rival’s pick for vice president was against equal pay for equal work.
“We’re gonna make sure that equal pay for equal work is a reality in this country,” he said. “You know, John McCain’s new VP nominee seems like a very engaging person, a nice person, but I’ve got to say, she’s opposed like John McCain is to equal pay for equal work. That doesn’t make much sense to me.” (MSNBC)
Obama had nothing at all to hang the equal pay slam on. When asked, he uh-ed his way through a “well, it’s McCain’s position” explanation. The McCain campaign quickly pounced:
Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella issued this response: “For Barack Obama to accuse Gov. Sarah Palin of opposing equal opportunity for women, when she actually opposes the trial lawyers’ effort to overturn the longstanding statute of limitations in America’s courts — is not only an absurd accusation, it’s a disgrace.” (Also MSNBC)
That’s apparently a reference to Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, a suit that was a statute of limitations case in equal pay clothing. SCOTUS saw through the ruse and decided 5-4 against Ledbetter. So reading through the lines, Palin has no position on the bogus equal pay issue, but has one on Ledbetter.
Even if Palin were opposed to the whole equal pay phony Dem issue, and there’s no evidence yet that she’s taken a position, more power to her. Employers need to be free to compensate employees based on one thing and one thing only: The value they give the corporation. Beyond the minimum wage, government has no business meddling. If a woman (or a man) takes off every day at 5 because of her responsibilities at home, or gets three calls a day from her child care provider, her boss should be free to factor that into the value of the employee, but the Dems would rather have bureaucrats make these decisions based on wholly irrelevant issues, like gender.
This stumbling by the Dem boys shows that they’re struggling with the Palin appointment. Apparently there isn’t equal knee-jerk viciousness against women in the Dem camp, so they’re a bit lost.
