On Clinton and Palin

A couple of days ago, Ann O'Leary wrote this in the San Francisco Chronicle. I thought it was so right on the money, especially for progressive women like myself, that I am reprinting it in full. You can find the original online article here.

When John McCain named Sarah Palin as his running mate, she immediately invoked Hillary Rodham Clinton's historic campaign for president and made clear she intends to draw Clinton's supporters to the Republican ticket. Will she succeed?

In answering this question, the media have focused nearly all attention on three themes: whether Clinton voters will vote for any woman on the ticket, no matter what her position on issues; whether pro-choice Clinton voters will cross over and vote for an anti-abortion ticket; and whether women will vote based on their approval or disapproval of Palin's decisions regarding motherhood and work.

While these themes may play into the media's conception of traditional "women's issues," the issue that is at the top of the agenda for female voters has been missing from the coverage: economic security. Poll after poll has found that women, to a much greater degree than men, are concerned about economic security, and about the closely linked issue of access to health care.

It's true that women supported Clinton because, to many of us, she is a heroine and a role model. To imagine Clinton as our commander in chief was both assuring and inspirational. In Clinton, we saw an intelligent, accomplished woman who could go toe-to-toe with any of the world's leaders, as well as a dedicated mother who has raised a successful daughter. But it was much more than that.

In Clinton, we had a candidate who has been fighting for women and families her whole career. Whether as first lady, when she successfully fought for a budget that doubled the number of families receiving child-care subsidies and reminded world leaders that "women's rights are human rights," or as a U.S. senator, when she pressured the Food and Drug Administration to make contraception more available, Clinton has been on our side.

Today, women are struggling more than ever to figure out how to pay for child care and deal with rising health-care premiums. Too many are working in jobs that offer no paid family leave or even paid sick days and provide no flexibility when caregiving arrangements break down. These problems are real: A study released last month by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that the United States comes in dead last in its generosity of paid parental leave when compared to 21 other developed countries. Another poll, released by the Public Welfare Foundation, found that 1 in 6 workers or their family members had been fired, suspended or punished for taking time off due to personal illness or to care for a sick child or relative.

Women will look to Palin not just for her views on abortion or to see whether she is an individual success story as a working mother. They'll want to know whether she will be a voice for women who are economically struggling to provide for their families.

They will find that, like Clinton, Palin is a role model for working women. With a supportive husband and an extended family, Palin is raising five children while working in public office. But they'll also find that Gov. Palin has yet to show leadership or even take a position on key economic issues for women, including quality affordable child care, flexible workplaces, paid sick leave, extended family leave or equal pay. On health care, Palin has set up an Alaska Health Care Commission to study the issue of affordable health care in her state, but so far she hasn't offered any solutions on how families should deal with the immediate problems of increasing health care premiums, medical debt that leaves too many families in bankruptcy, or insurance that covers too little when it is most needed.

When Gov. Palin had her fifth child in March, the Anchorage Daily News interviewed women across the state. Sara Chapell, a stay-at-home mom from Haines who quit work because of difficulty finding and affording child care, wondered whether Palin would advocate for paid family leave or affordable child care to ease the burden for other women. So far she has not.

In joining Sen. John McCain on the GOP ticket, Gov. Palin is joining an opponent of paid sick leave - and of any expansions to unpaid family and medical leave - who has repeatedly voted against increased child care spending, and who recently voted against a bill to allow women to more easily fight pay discrimination. By contrast, presidential nominee Barack Obama promised in his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention that he will lead the country to make work and family life more compatible and more economically feasible: "Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent. ... And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work."

Issues of women's economic security should not belong to either political party. If Palin hopes to attract Clinton supporters, she will need to demonstrate that she brings to the ticket real solutions for American working women and families, not just an individual success story as a working mother.

Ann O'Leary is the executive director of the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security at UC Berkeley School of Law and a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress Action Fund. She previously served as legislative director to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and senior policy adviser to her when she was the first lady. E-mail comments to insight@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page G - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle