According to the Wikipedia,”Tokenism refers to a policy or practice of limited inclusion of members of a minority group, usually creating a false appearance of inclusive practices, intentional or not. Typical examples in real life and fiction include purposely including a member of a minority race …into a group. Classically, token characters have some reduced capacity compared to the other characters and may have bland or inoffensive personalities so as to not be accused of stereotyping negative traits. Instead, their difference may be overemphasized or made “exotic” and glamorous”.
This aptly describes the current strategy of both political campaigns in the race for the White House during this election cycle. But the most blatant display of this act of tokenism is exhibited by the campaign of Senator John McCain. As we have argued previously, John McCain has no respect for women’s rights and has actively opposed some of the most fundamental causes of the Women’s Movement.
In February 2007, he publicly stated his opposition to Roe vs. Wade, the quintessential basis of the right of a woman to choose whether to have an abortion or not. This ignoble position was reiterated in May of that year when the senator went further and said “I have stated time after time after time that Roe v. Wade was a bad decision”.
In 2005, John McCain opposed legislation that would have allocated about $100 million toward the expansion of access to preventive health care services aimed at reducing the numbers of unintended and teen pregnancies and the number of abortions. In an August 1999 speech, John McCain said “I’d love to see a point where [Roe v. Wade] is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary”.
When John McCain chose a supposedly staunch conservative to be his running mate, he must have known that she is anti-choice, against civil rights for gay and lesbian people, wants to drill in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, and will definitely be against any form of gun control. He surely must have known that she is a supporter of the ultra right-wing extremist called Pat Buchanan and that she believes that we should teach Creationism in schools. He certainly was aware that she has a dismissive attitude toward the issue of global warming and is against funding special-needs programs in schools. These are not the credentials of someone who believes in women’s rights.
On the issue of equal pay for working women, John McCain argues that such a policy would “open us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems”. He does not stop there. He further posits that instead of allowing women to fight for equal pay, they (women) simply need education and training.
McCain supports the global gag rule – a foreign policy initiative that bars foreign family planning organizations from receiving U.S. funds if the group in any way advises clients on abortion as an option or advocates for legal abortion – even when using their own funds.
Richard Cohen summed Senator McCain best when he argues that McCains “…opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir — the person in whose hands he would leave the country — is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president. McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not”. And that win-at-all-cost mentality includes the unparalleled pandering that suddenly wants to cast the Arizona senator as a champion of Women’s Rights.
God Bless the United States of America, and save us from eternal dimwits.