Palin's “Neanderthal” Remark Is An Attack Upon Her Base Supporters

Jesse Powell writes (commenting on Palin's Neanderthal Remark and Laura Woods blog post about it at The Thinking Housewife):
 

In looking for a silver lining in Palin’s outrageous statements I do find it interesting that Sarah Palin is attacking family values conservatives so viciously. Calling people who advocate motherhood “Neandertheals” is straight feminism, even radical feminism, and surely Palin knows that a part of her natural support base consists of precisely the kind of social conservatives she is condemning.  So why would Palin condemn and attack a part of her own natural support base? Because they are attacking her and questioning the appropriateness of her, as the mother of a special needs 2 year old and another child under 10, being so active and prominent in the political realm.
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Palin is viciously attacking a part of her own support base as a means of bolstering her legitimacy and getting her critics on the right to “shut up” on the family values issues she in her personal life is flouting. It reminds me of Christine O’Donnell accusing her former employer, a socially conservative organization, of discriminating against her because she’s a woman, going so far as threatening to sue that employer in court for money damages. It is another case of a high-profile conservative Republican woman candidate viciously attacking a natural political ally because of their concerns about women taking on prominent public roles.
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The silver lining, the good news in all of this, is that there are enough social conservatives questioning the appropriateness of women in high public office to make these women candidates squirm and rebel against the “oppression” their own supporters are imposing upon them. To me this is a good and encouraging sign.
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One final comment, it shows bad character for women like Sarah Palin and Christine O’Donnell to attack the principles that social conservatives wary of their candidacies uphold just because those principles are inconvenient for their personal ambitions as women. They are placing their own personal glory and power above principle and the ethics that affect us all.

ORIGINAL POST HERE