Sarah Palin - a product of Title IX

The appointment of Sarah Palin to be the Vice President on the Republican ticket was a brilliant, searing, in-your-face strategic move by John McCain. Palin has energized the party, partly because she shoots caribou (and then eats them in burgers); wears bright red shoes, and talks like a hockey mom.

Well, sometimes.

Claiming that you might have foreign policy credentials because you can see Russia from your backyard - well, most hockey moms I know (and I am one) - would probably have come up with a more convincing piece of spin. Plus, most of the hockey moms I know both spit and swear - and none of this from Palin. Yet.

Palin recently told ABC's Charlie Gibson that she was a product of Title IX when asked if she could hold office and raise a family, particularly as Palin's youngest child has Downs Syndrome. I found this answer interesting - as I am not sure that Title IX has anything to do with the balance between work and children, particularly a child with special needs. Title IX, to Palin's point, however, has been critically important in terms of creating opportunities for women on the playing field (and in other areas of education), which translate into very real gains in the workplace.

The real issue is this - John McCain trumped the Democratic Party. Barack Obama could have headed off this frontal assault by appointing Hillary (or, at a minimum, publically promised her a cabinet position) - and failed to do so. In fact, a bold move by Obama might have been, if he couldn't stomach the concept of Hillary as a vice president, named his entire potential cabinet (including Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton, and others) - which could have blunted any sort of counterpoint move by John McCain.

I think we Democrats are in checkmate, at the moment.