I do not agree with Sarah Palin’s political ideology. I do not think she has significant exposure to the press, leading myself along with others to believe she is not qualified to be a heartbeat away form the presidency. She has only participated in three major interviews, while Senator Joe Biden has given over 100 interviews in the last month. Tina Fey’s most recent Saturday Night Live (SNL) skits have not helped change my opinion of the governor. On Saturday night, Tina Fey played Palin as she was being interviewed by Katie Couric. While the SNL skits are fictional, there was a strange familiarity between Tina Fey’s responses and Sarah Palin’s responses. It is funny when Tina Fey’s character says, “I can see Russia from my house.” But it is sad when the Vice-Presidential nominee for one of the major parties says, “…Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and, on our other side, the land-boundary that we have with Canada,” as an example of her foreign policy experience. Or, when asked about her running mate’s 26-year record in the Senate, responds, “I’ll try and find you some [examples] and I’ll bring them to you.” As one can see, Governor Palin’s responses have been boiled down to a joke. The American people deserve more than this farce from our candidates. We deserve a higher level of political debate in this country.

It is great that the Republican Party has put a woman on one of the top spots of their ticket. But by choosing an under qualified woman, or at least a woman who is prohibited from talking to the press, they have undermined women who have worked for equality, have advanced degrees and have worked to gain experience and knowledge of the federal government. I want a woman to be president- but I want a qualified woman. They exist. Both the Democratic and Republican parties have women that are qualified to be the Vice President or the President. But those women do not appear on top of either ticket. They are in the House and the Senate. They are Governors and Cabinet- level Officials. The choice of Palin is a mockery of qualified women. In a time when our country is fighting two wars, on the brink of a major financial crisis, and over 15% of the population is without healthcare, the American public should demand that the best candidates appear on the tickets. The election of 2008 needs to be about intelligence and ideas; the stakes are too great for it to be about anything less. If this is elitist of me, so be it.

-Anne DiGiulio