Napolitano: GOP VP nominee faces sexism in coverage
PHOENIX - Gov. Janet Napolitano says Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin probably is facing a bit of sexism in coverage, particularly as it relates to her family.
But, Napolitano said Wednesday, that's still no reason to vote for her - or, more to the point, for John McCain who is at the top of the ticket. The Arizona governor said her Alaska counterpart is "very much from the far right of the Republican Party.''
Napolitano, in her first press conference since returning from the Democratic National Convention, noted the attention being paid to Palin's family life, particularly the fuss over her pregnant 17-year-old daughter. She said there's really nothing new about that.
"There's a line that Ann Richards used to use about running for public office,'' Napolitano said quoting the former Texas governor.
"If you're a woman, this is what happens: If you're not married, you couldn't get a man. If you're married, you're ignoring your man. If you're divorced, you couldn't keep your man. And if you're widowed, you killed your man,'' Napolitano recalled, "so that when a woman runs there does tend to be a different emphasis with the coverage.''
Napolitano said Palin's gender was one reason she believes McCain picked her.
"Sarah Palin is very much from the far right of the Republican Party,'' she said. "And her position on things like choice, on things like teaching creationism in the schools, she follows that inventory of issues down the letter.''
The Anchorage Daily News reported that Palin, during a debate in the 2006 gubernatorial race, said students in Alaska public schools should be taught both evolution and creationism. But there is no evidence that she has pushed that agenda since being elected.
Napolitano said there's nothing wrong with Palin on a personal level.
"You'd like her. She's funny, she's charming. And she's not, in the words of George Bush, to be underestimated.''
But Napolitano said she found it surprising that McCain, who has criticized Barack Obama for his lack of experience, would choose Palin, who has been governor of Alaska for less than two years after being mayor of a small community there.
"You must believe that your vice president can take over the presidency in the event something happens,'' said Napolitano. "If he believes that Sarah Palin is ready this day to be commander in chief and to lead the United States, then he really has to agree that Barack Obama is as well.''
Napolitano never said anything about her own views of whether Palin has enough experience to be ready to act as president should the need arise.
She did say, though, that there is historical precedent for someone of limited political background leading the country: Abraham Lincoln who used the publicity from his unsuccessful 1858 campaign for U.S. Senate to propel him to the presidency two years later.
