by Tim O'Connor
Like most Canadians, the news that Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin is, of all things, a hockey mom caught me off guard.
At first blush it seems a little odd that Palin is being branded by her own party as a "hockey mom" when the Republicans are trying to create a broad appeal for her with the electorate. I mean, in the US, being branded a "hockey mom" has about as much broad appeal as being branded "muslim preacher." So, why have the Republicans chosen to do it?
Well, I surmise, it's because of the general attitude toward hockey south of the border.....tough, fighting, take no prisoners. All this to say, there's a different view toward the term "hockey mom" here in Canada (ass-warming cushion, Tim Horton's in hand, buttons with photos of hockey playing kids proudly pinned to an overstuffed winter coat) and in the U.S. where the term "hockey mom" is being used to brand Palin as a fighter, someone ready to "put on the foil" for McCain. Sure, she's a woman running for Vice-President, but she's tough, she's scrappy, she doesn't take hit from no one.
Interestingly, I heard Palin herself during a rally asking, "They say, 'What's the difference between a mountain lion and a hockey mom? Well, hockey moms wear lipstick." So, while we north of the border may take a little foreign pride in the Vice-Presidential candidate being branded as a hockey mom, in reality, the term is being used in a near negative manner with Palin. In labelling her a hockey mom the Republicans are trying to create a picture of Palin in the minds of Americans as a Broad Street Bully with an updo and lip gloss. Better that than for the press to focus on her history as a beauty queen, especially after the damage done to the image of beauty queens by Miss Teen South Carolina. Portraying Palin as a beauty queen would only reinforce all the wrong stereotypes and fuel the fires of arguments some make about women not being fit for higher office.
Sure, Palin didn't spend five years drinking her own piss in a Viet Cong POW camp, but she's a hockey mom, so she may as well have.
She's an insult to the people of America. Could you imagine a small town mayor from PEI (just a couple years since being on the school's PTA, baking cupcakes to raise $ at the local bakesale) to becoming Canada's Prime Minister? Someone who has never stepped foot in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver or Calgary suddenly being put into a position where her input is crucial to decisions affecting Bay Street, the Courts, International Relations? Can you? Puh-lease!
Posted by: Texas long & proud | September 30, 2008 at 08:30 AM
Go Sarah! You are exactly what we need; someone to shake things things up and to keep out of Washington another one of the "good old boys!"
Posted by: Larry_in_PHX | October 11, 2008 at 11:35 AM