Women's Press makes historic presidental endorsement

When the potential Vice President of the United States forms this sort of sentence during her first televised debate—“One thing that Americans do at this time, also, though, is let's commit ourselves just every day American people, Joe Six Pack, hockey moms across the nation, I think we need to band together and say never again”—who wouldn’t want to distance themselves?

While significant that a woman is on the ticket, even local feminist organizations are petrified by the idea of Sarah Palin possibly having anything to do with running this country. For the first time in 24 years the Minnesota Women’s Press, a weekly publication about women, written for women, made a presidential endorsement Wednesday. It picked the ticket with two men.

"It is historic for us, certainly, to say 'No. Stop. Wait. Look,'" says Editor Michele St. Martin.

"I think a lot of people are surprised, but when you really look at the people who are supporting Sarah Palin, I can’t imagine anyone who is supportive of women’s issues, that would support her. …Voting for a woman just because she is a woman has never been what we are about."

Readers were elated by the magazine’s decision writing in to say that a vote against Palin was a vote for women.

In this election, the issues important to woman, such as peace, choice, economic justice, healthcare, education and the environmen are not issues that Sarah Palin advances in the way that most women want, St. Martin says. "We want the improvement of the lives of all women not just one."