But do women make better leaders?
JOHN MCCAIN'S choice of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential candidate has brought the question of gender back into the American presidential race. The Republicans hope that Ms Palin, the governor of Alaska and a self-dubbed “hockey-mom”, will sway disillusioned supporters of Hillary Clinton as well as independent voters. In a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, Americans say that they think women are more likely to have the qualities needed to make a good leader. In the end, however, more would still opt for a man in charge.
http://people-press.org/
By the way, what did you think of Palin's speech Wednesday night? My quick analysis, hard-hitting on Obama (a recent chariteristic of VP choices), nothing said about "women's issues" and light on any new Republican policies. Maybe the best line of the night came when she contrasted Obama with McCain, "who has built a career about bringing change."
4 comments:
I thought that Palin's speech was very entertaining. This speech made her "a star". She was tough on Obama, yet showed a lighter side when talking about her family. I thought her tactic on attacking Obama was effective. She pointed out that Obama has been much more talk than action. He has in fact been campaigning a good portion of his rookie stint in the US congress. Her family story is touching, and I think she shows much more of a connection to the average person in America than Obama, even though she comes from the northern boondocks. Though a little short on facts, I think they are waiting for McCain to talk about that sort of thing. It seemed she wanted to highlight the fact that she was an everday mom and that Obama is too much talk. Even the parts where she talks about energy, it seemed to get breezed over by her wit and criticism. She was by far the best speaker the GOP put out last night.
The statistics provided by the Paw Reseach Center proves that women far outnumber men in leadership qualities. However, when people ask who would make the better leader, the major choose men superior or qual to women. I find this disturbing because of the advantages that women hold when compared to men. I guess the major hold back for women being elected as leaders would be the trait of decisiveness. But decisiveness is not always a good thing because it can lead to narrow minded decisions. Women can use their intelligence and compassion to make the proper decisions, rather than a hasty non-thought-of plan.
I think it is completely irresponsible to say that women as a whole are better leaders than men. Or to say that women are more compassionate as a whole than men. That kind of ideology just continues emphasizing gender when really we need to be emphasizing issues and beliefs. Who cares if you are male or female? And as for women being more compassionate than men, Sarah Palin is a perfect example of how this logic is flawed. She may seem so nice and compassionate when talkng about her family and her daughter's pregnancy, but has anyone noticed how badly she has destroyed Alaskan commerce? Alaska is in an absolutely atrocious state (well, if you happen to be a self-employed farmer type which let's face it, is most of Alaska). And then there's her bringing her friends with no experience into the Alaskan political system. Compassionate? Well, maybe towards her friends but really, to say that overall women are better leaders is a claim I don't think anyone can make.
I think that McCain and Palin are absolutely ridiculous for thinking that just because there is a woman on his side, that they're going to swing Hilary Clinton's voters. Clinton was a Democrat while those two are Republicans. Voters should see it as that and not man and woman. Personally i think that her attack on Obama was wrong too. He may not have done much, but what can you really say she has done in the GREAT STATE OF ALASKA. You don't hear much about that place at all. Overall I think it's wrong what she's doing.
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