Colo. women rally against Sarah Palin

Blast GOP veep pick on experience, policies, etc.

Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

WOMEN AGAINST PALIN — Lauren McCain, left, no relation to Sen. John McCain, dresses as Sarah “Pitfall” Palin at a rally against the GOP vice president candidate at the State Capitol yesterday. Denver Daily News photo by Peter Marcus.

Dozens of Colorado women Democrats gathered at the State Capitol yesterday to say Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin “does not speak for us.”

The energetic group of mostly middle-age women held signs that read, “Palin = Bush with lipstick,” “This hockey mom says, ‘Palin and McCain, stay the puck out of D.C.,’” and “Palin = Bush in a skirt,” to name a few.

Lawmakers there as well

Current and former female state and local lawmakers joined the rally. They made the argument that the Sen. John McCain-Palin ticket for president would result in women losing key choices over their bodies, increased costs of health care, an increase in global warming and an unstable economy.

“Women make up half the population and we gave birth to the other half,” quipped Colorado House Majority Leader Alice Madden in an attempt to charge the crowd. “We’re not allowed to know what Sarah Palin thinks, she’s only had two interviews … We do know she’s polite, she says, ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ a lot … but we know from the last eight years that … she is not what the country needs and she is not what women want.”

Madden, from Boulder, also joked about the “Saturday Night Live” skit in which Tina Fey (playing Palin) jokes, “I can see Russia from my house,” in regard to Palin’s foreign policy experience.

The Palin bashing continued. One woman in the audience joked, “Who’s running for president? McCain or Palin?” alluding to the obvious media shadow Palin has cast over the campaign trail during the last several weeks.

“Sarah Palin has a colorful character, and that’s interesting and fun, but is that how you choose the next vice president?” asked Madden. “If your child, or your mother, or your husband, or your brother needed surgery, would you pick the surgeon who you played poker with, or had a beer with? Or would you pick a surgeon who actually knew what they were doing?”

Former Democrat State Sen. Polly Baca, of Greeley, pointed out that women use more health care services than men. She said the McCain-Palin plan would result in higher health care insurance expenses.

She added that the McCain-Palin plan would result in tax cuts for only the wealthy, and pointed out that eight years ago, before President Bush took office, the federal budget was balanced with a surplus.

“We need an economy that works for all of us, not just for a small wealthy number,” said Baca.

Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, who in 2007 successfully lobbied for legislation that requires hospitals, pharmacies and rape assistance centers to notify rape victims about emergency contraception, said Palin’s plan would have rape victims paying for their own rape kits.

“Even if her own daughter were raped,” continued Boyd, who pointed to evidence that Palin’s hometown of Wasilla, Alaska required women to pay for their own rape examinations while she was mayor. Alaska’s rate of rape is 2.2 percent higher than the rest of the nation, said Boyd.

Abortion issue

As a female lawmaker, Boyd said she is passionate about keeping abortion legal and providing information on emergency contraception and sex education so that women can make informed choices.

“If my daughter, or anyone’s daughter was raped, she should not have to live daily with a decision she did not make,” she said.

“If elected, Gov. Palin would inflict her religious fundamentalism on all of our bodies,” Boyd said earlier.

She pointed to Sen. Barack Obama’s policies, which call for increased funding for birth control to low-income women, increased sex education programs, keeping abortion legal and expanded stem-cell research.

Palin, on the other hand, is opposed to birth control, abortion and stem-cell research, and believes in abstinence-only education, said Boyd.

“Like teenagers won’t have sex,” quipped Boyd.

“While Gov. Palin has a woman’s body, she sure doesn’t support women’s bodies,” she continued.

Former Denver City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth, a lead architect of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, warned women against getting caught up in the buzz Palin’s candidacy has stirred in the media.

“Don’t be confused. Do not get caught up in the rhetoric,” she said. “This is the McCain-Palin strategy. Do not fall for it.”

Tom Kise, regional spokesman for John McCain ’08, did not return several phone calls yesterday from the Denver Daily News seeking comment from Colorado women who support Palin. The McCain campaign national office directed phone calls to Kise’s office.

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