Dear Disaffected Hillary Voters....

....who are now planning to vote for McCain because of Sarah Palin:

Yes, you.

This is an open letter to you.

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU PEOPLE?? You are registered democrats! Many of you call yourselves feminists!! You stand for ideals and issues and positions on which she (not to mention McCain) stands on the complete opposite side!! Didn't you hear Hillary ask you at the DNC to THINK (yes, operative word here is THINK) why you had supported Hillary? Was is because she was Hillary and had a certain platform that you believed in? Or was it simply because she was a woman and that was what appealed to you and won your vote? Do you really think that she is interchangeable with Hillary? If it was because of the platform, you need to vote Obama. If it was because she is a woman, then that is some mixed up idea of feminism, because this is clearly the wrong woman to be voting for.

Put your brains back on, people.

edited to add a link to an Opinion piece from the LA Times that says what I've got on my mind so much more eloquently: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-steinem4-2008sep04,0,7541303.story

a quote from the above that sums up my disappointment:

"This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.

"Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."

I will take the last sentence of the quote above and take it one step farther -- in my mind, a woman who calls herself a feminist who actually votes for that ticket, is like a deer signing up to join the NRA. There are better ways to get women in the white house, and there are better candidates out there for women and for feminists, even if they are men.

Thank you, Gloria Steinem, for your eloquence and perspective! I am always happy we share an alma mater.