Letters to the Editor of San Francisco Chronicle re: Palin selection

[book_worm]

President Palin?
Editor - We were lucky to dodge President Quayle, but we may not be so lucky with President Palin.

BOB MULLER

Moraga


Is this the best?
Editor - America is a country abundant with brilliant women. Choosing a woman in an effort to attract Hillary Clinton supporters might make sense strategically, but is this the best the Republicans can do? Honestly? Given how clearly John McCain is playing politics - there is no way he can argue with a straight face that Sarah Palin was the most qualified candidate available for the job - it's a pretty vile insult to presume that America's women will come flocking to McCain now that he has selected a female vice presidential candidate. Women are too smart to succumb to a tactic like this.

Barack Obama got it right Thursday night - it's not that John McCain doesn't care; he just doesn't get it.

ADAM GERSTON

San Francisco

Not a sister
Editor - Did I hear correctly? On his 72nd birthday, did McCain announce that a 44-year-old former beauty contestant, moose hunter, pro-life mother of five, Alaskan conservative who wishes to drill offshore and not keep polar bears on the Endangered Species list is going to be a heartbeat from the presidency?

Did I also hear that this person would be an alternative for those who were former Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters because she is a woman? If I were Hillary, I'd find that terribly insulting. Neither Hillary nor her supporters would ever invite Sarah Palin into the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits!"

DIANA DiPIETRO

Pleasant Hill

Maverick's choice
Editor - John McCain has made a bold and exciting choice - and one not without risk - in choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate.

McCain's greatest appeal is when he acts on his impulses to be a maverick reformer. He appears to have found a young soulmate in Palin.

In November, Democrats field a ticket of Obama/Biden, two trained lawyers and Washington senators. With John McCain and Sarah Palin, the Republican ticket offers gender and "life experience" diversity with demonstrated political records of actually making "change" happen.

JIM HARTMAN

Berkeley

Editor - In your wildest dreams, who could top this?

John McCain attacks Barack Obama for months on his supposed lack of experience. Then, I guess in the Republican tradition of George H. W. Bush's choice of Dan Quayle, he chooses Sarah Palin, a less than two-year governor of Alaska, to be the person to be one heartbeat away from the presidency in his administration.


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Is this what is called "flip-flop?" Is this what is called "judgment?" Does McCain really believe that pro-choice women who worked for Hillary Clinton and hoped to realize their dream of seeing a woman in the White House would just flip-flop to a woman who holds pro-life views?

The important thing is not that Sarah Palin decided to continue her own pregnancy in circumstances when other women might not, but that she is willing to impose her decision on all women.

RACHEL KAHN-HUT

Oakland

[Skink]

1. She is an agent for big oil.

This pick could not make more sense.