Palin and Parties

I was staying down in the states during both the Democratic and Republican conventions, and I spent a lot of time watching U.S. coverage of both. I was very anti-Republican to begin with, but the appointment of Sarah Palin as VP candidate really got my back up. Hence, I think this is amazing.

There are so many things that I think are wrong with Sarah Palin. Some of them are very personal, others I would think are generally understandable. Like her proclamation that she rejected the idea of the "bridge to nowhere", in the best interests of her state, when she actually campaigned on a "build the bridge" platform. Or the fact that she has chosen a life of politics over the responsibility of raising a very young and disabled son. Yes, I'm a feminist, and yes I believe that women have the right to choose how to live their lives, but her leaving the care of a tiny baby with Down's Syndrome to nannies and her older children just rubs me the wrong way. And while I admire her daughter for keeping her baby, I'd much rather know that Bristol had the choice to get pregnant and took it, rather than knowing that with an anti-sex education and anti-birth control mother, that likely wasn't the case.

In the world of Canadian politics, one of my jobs today is to do a bunch more research on the platforms of our four parties. I've read a fair bit in Maclean's and the Globe and Mail about all four, but I need to know more before I make a decision. I'm never going to be one to vote on the basis of party alone; I know that what parties campaign on is not often accomplished, but I refuse to put power in the hands of someone who isn't committed to the same interestes of the country and it's people as I am.