"It shows that he does have some ability to see what others see right through or refuse to see at all."

How so? Is it just because he chose a woman?Does he see that women want a woman to rise to power no mater her stance on women's rights?

In my humble opinion, McCain's choice is skin deep, shallow and makes me as a woman feel even more demeaned. So he's got a gun toting trophy VP, so what?

Here's some punditry from The Nation on Palin.

Here's the view of my brother-in-law a longtime American History scholar,

"Palin is a hard right social conservative. So I believe
that she will do little to help McCain win the broad middle of the electorate that wants
change, whatever that means. And if those disenchanted Clinton backers want to
vote for her, good riddance to them I say. They are not sufficiently numerous to
make a big difference in the outcome of this election. In a few days the excitement of Palin's selection will
wear off and she will be exposed as the dangerous ignoramus that she is."

I agree with these two - gender is less the issue for me - it's actions, actions, actions.

A trophy wife and trophy VP -- summarizes what McCain sees in American women. A long time ago I was impressed by McCain -- long before this election. I find his choice of a woman offensive and insulting. Does he think women voters are such fools that they will vote for a woman regardless of what she stands for? Anyone who is Pro-life is anti-womens rights in my book and a mother of five who chooses any job as demanding as being Vice President of the United States has the kind of priorities that make America the unhealthy, uncivilized nation it is today.

  Palin ran for office in her town, because she was tired of excuses, so she rolled up her sleeves to fix things. That used to be the traditional role of men in our society--fixing things.  I don't agree with her philosophies, but that doesn't mean I can't respect what she has accomplished (also, she played a mean basketball game).  Democrats and Republicans alike have to realize we can't keep passing the buck on fixing things.

And, Evelyn, in a past life, I, too, respected the first platform of McCain.  It doesn't mean I am going to vote for him this time around because he put a woman on the ballot.  I am just amazed that the GOP has finally come around to recognizing the hardworking women in their ranks.  That said, I desperately hope the rest of America can see the shallowness of this ticket and the instability of the platform. 

We can talk about "trophyism" another time...."unhealthy and uncivilized" would be how I characterize America, too.

I also think Americans saw a man with profound respect for women at the Democratic National Convention--a man who sees women as life forces, not trophies.

Barack Obama gave an inclusive speech.  He intentionally avoided soaring oration and rhetoric to appeal to the common and good in all of us.

McCain's choice of Palin is a deeply cynical choice and has all the earmarks of Karl Rove's demented mind. It's a move meant to confuse. It will be used by Republicans to say, yes, she has no experience and then extend that to Obama as inexperienced.

It is the typical Rovian model of sowing confusion and thus avoiding any issues that mean anything to people and certainly to women. Because on the issues McCain is AWOL.

Sadly, Rove, like Hitler, is an evil genius in his power to manipulate minds.