Hey, Palin: The Puck Stops Here

Hey, Palin: The Puck Stops Here

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Guest blogger and soccer enthusiast Political Dad's take on Palin's "Hockey Mom" status...

As soon as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin described herself as a "hockey mom" in her speech to the Republican National Convention, America and the media went nuts over the latest clichéd demographic. Palin joked, "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick--and with that the "Hockey Mom" replaced the myth of the suburban "Soccer Mom."

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I spent most of my life kicking a soccer ball, so I know a few things about what my mom endured--carting me from one practice to another, washing grimy soccer socks, cutting thousands of orange slices. In elections past, everyone seemed obsessed with courting the soccer mom vote. How is it possible that things could change so fast? Is there really any difference between a mom who packs the kids into a minivan to take them to an ice rink instead of a soccer field? After all, isn't hockey just soccer on ice?

At last count, there were 18 million kids playing soccer in the United States--more than any other nation in the world. But, according to USA Hockey, there are only 347,061 players below the age of 20. That's roughly 17 million more soccer moms. Where'd they all go? Nowhere, I suspect--because here's the deal: Hockey moms are soccer moms, especially when they live around the Great Lakes swing states--and that stereotype of a woman is exactly what the Republican Party wants to revive. They want moms to believe that Sarah Palin is just like them.

Here's the problem: Governor Palin opposes just about every issue that the majority of moms, hockey or otherwise, support. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but denies global warming. She opposes gun control but supports governmental control of a women's uterus. She opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions. I'll skip the obvious irony here.

Even scarier, Palin, unlike McCain, pledges to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade. She believes that if one of her or your daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, they should bear the child or go to jail.

Sound familiar? This hockey mom isn't a pit bull with lipstick, she's George Bush with lipstick. And if enough soccer moms believe this fantasy--well, then we all might end up with an incredibly dangerous and inexperienced person a heartbeat away from the presidency.

42 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

Amen to that!

- Marquita

Posted 09/13/08 12:11 PM

“the majority of moms, hockey or otherwise, support” where do you get this fact. Personally, I know a lot more moms (soccer or dance or otherwise) than not who are closer to Palin’s views than you claim in this article. You can’t make a HUGE blanket statement like this without facts.

- Peggy

Posted 09/13/08 12:46 PM

Roe v. Wade will never be overturned, by Palin or otherwise. George Bush has been in office for 8 years and hasn’t done it. Where do you get off calling her George Bush with Lipstick? Research your material before you write an article. If you don’t like Palin, the great thing about America is that you can go vote for someone else.

- Aleisha

Posted 09/13/08 01:46 PM

Peggy is More correct than MArquita

- LT

Posted 09/13/08 04:32 PM

Actually as of now McCain also wants to overturn roe v wade I was watching him talk about it on a media clip ill post link when I find it.

- Chase

Posted 09/13/08 05:02 PM

Wow this country is brainwashed… She is bush with lipstick, and McCain might as well put some on too because he’s being a bi.tch. Almost every policy he believed in the past 15 years he has changed his mind about. And Palin… wow really small town america. Ill get the beer and hoods you get the rope and our guns. Its all a mind game actually read what they believe and stop listening to their stories.

- Chase

Posted 09/13/08 05:07 PM

Forget about experience - this woman is a nut case. Has there ever been a worse candidate chosen to be VP. I bet McCain wishes he hadn’t picked her.

- Hottopics

Posted 09/13/08 07:20 PM

I think that there are many (insert sport or other activity here)-moms who do believe in Palin. I do. No, she is not perfect but then again, who is? I think you are discounting way to many of us ( )moms who do have most of the same values as Palin and are going to vote for McCain/Palin in November. And not just because she is a woman but because she is capable being VP of the Good Ol’ US of A.

- softball mom

Posted 09/13/08 10:24 PM

She IS just like all other moms. I say all because all moms have the same challenges. All moms have to deal with everything that goes with balancing your home and hoping and praying that the choices you make for your family are going to benefit them. And every mom I know struggles with those decisions every day.

- abc...xyz-mom

Posted 09/13/08 11:30 PM

What kind of story is this? How dare you, MOMLOGIC, print this kind of garbage? I am personally insulted by it. As a Volleyball mom, I am very impressed by Sarah Palin and how she conducts herself. The media and a bunch of brainless idiots that listen to rumors continuously attack her and she doesn’t back down. She is a strong woman and deserves more respect than she is getting. I would like to give you a quote from Hillary Clinton herself on March 3, 2008. This is what she said, “I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the white house, Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the white house, Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.” END QUOTE! So keep on putting down a Vice Presidential candidate but remember this: your Presidential candidate is Obama. I have alot of respect for Hillary Clinton as she sits quietly and doesn’t join in the butchering of Sarah Palin. She is much more intelligent than Obama and Democrats made a terrible move when they picked Obama over her. YOU’LL SEE!

- CK1

Posted 09/14/08 12:43 AM

CK1- “personally Insulted”?? get over it. the brainless idots are those who believe in the mccain/palin ticket.

- Anonymous

Posted 09/14/08 01:42 AM

You write, “Goveronor Palin opposes just about every issue that the majority of moms, hockey or otherwise, support.” Just so we are clear, you do not speak for me or many mothers that I know…sure, numerous women may agree with you, but there are also numerous women that agree with Palin…please be careful with your use of the word, “majority”. This is a very divided country in many ways…however, you can’t ignore, dismiss, or discount the votes of those of us that are vehemently ProLife, and side with various other McCain/Palin views…those that disagree with her stands are free to vote for Obama/Biden, but please don’t assume that the “majority” of moms will be doing that.

- Jo

Posted 09/14/08 07:39 AM

We have no good options and havent had since JFK but We sure as heck dont need another term of Republicans in this country!!!

- Susan

Posted 09/14/08 08:50 AM

Idots anyway. Yes, apparently there are alot of moms that are insulted by this story. To suggest that this is what the majority of moms think is a utter lie. I was at a birthday party yesterday, there were plenty of moms there and not one of them is happy about how the way Sarah Palin is being treated. That is also how the moms in my own neighborhood feel also. We ARE insulted that someone similar to all of us is being put under the fire and burned alive just because the liberals are threatened by her. For goodness sakes, John McCain is running for President not Sarah Palin. Get it straight people. You should be more threatened by him. But, nobody says much about him. Is there a double standard here is that just our imagination?

- CK1

Posted 09/14/08 10:20 AM

Thank you, THANK YOU for helping to spread the reality of Sarah Palin’s beliefs on the issues. While I am very excited that a woman has been nominated for such a high office (finally!), the idea of Sarah Palin taking that office terrifies me. As in the article, I disagree with EVERYTHING she stands for, and it really worries me that women will vote for her simply because she’s a woman. Just like parenting, our right to vote should come with some required education, so people know exactly what they’re voting for.

- Marisa

Posted 09/14/08 11:39 AM

I don’t like Sarah Palin’s politics. I don’t care what kind of a mother she is. She is running for VP, not Mother of the Year. In my observations, people can lack as politicians and be good parents at the same time. I do not like the political style of either Clinton, but they must be good parents - Chelsea Clinton is an impressive young woman. Same for Jenna and Barbara Bush. They received a lot of bad press for their partying in college, but they have matured into articulate, thoughtful, socially concerned young women - parenting had something to do w/this. As much as I dislike the leadership of Bush, he seems like a good father, and I have always admired Laura Bush as a mother. I sincerely doubt that Sarah Palin (or Hilary Clinton or any other male or female governor, senator, etc.) has had to deal w/the day to day, ongoing struggles, in terms of time off work for sick kids, juggling multiple after school activities with grocery shopping, dr. appts.,homework, meals, etc. that most poor/middle class Americans deal with. For one, people in high positions have staff and transportation at the ready, to help out. Do you really think Governor Palin has to juggle a mtg. or cancel appts. every time one of her kids gets sick? Do she and her husband have to stress when one of the cars breaks down, or dies altogether? People in high positions also make a lot more money than the average middle class American professional. The Obamas may have “struggled” financially in their early marriage to pay back student loans, but are now not like most Americans with college degrees, who may be working 2 jobs to make good lives for their families. As far as the 4 in the running - Obama, Biden, McCain, Palin - the story that seems most deserving of exalted parent status is Biden’s, b/c of the commitment he made to work in DC and commute home after his wife was killed. Remember, he wanted to resign at first, in order to raise his boys. With much urging from peers and family, he made the decision to continue in office, but to also preserve the normalcy of his sons’ lives. I’ve made the drive he had to make, and it’s a long one…I admire his integrity toward his family and his determination to make

- Jezzie

Posted 09/14/08 12:53 PM

@ Aleisha…you are a girl after my own heart!! What you said, so true. ** I don’t have any friends, and hardly ever had any girlfriends, but it sure does seem to ring true the whole “women knocking down other women” thing. When Hillary was running, all the Dem women that I spoke to, knocked her down for an array of ridiculous things, including putting up w/Bill, mind you, the same LOVED Jackie O. Just as those naysayers NOW spouting their nonsense about how can she be vp with five kids, but godforbid you tell THEM to stay home and suffice off one paycheck, rather then putting the kids in daycare for that Prada bag. Bitches, we sure are.

- cara

Posted 09/14/08 03:21 PM

This story point out the number of soccer moms and the number of hockey moms but does not refer to what may big the reason for that difference. I grew up loveing hockey and was even lucky enough to have parents who could afford to put me in the sport. When my boys were young I could not afford hockey, equipment alone runs in the hundreds of dollars( in 1975 my skates alone were 125.00 and they were cheap ones) and the ice time does not come cheap. My husband and are in the higher average bracket but hockey is unpractical and out of reach. So you say hockey is just soccer on ice, I say hockey is the wealthy mans soccer. Wish I could afford it for the grandkids but well cost has just kept going up!!!

- Hockeygirl

Posted 09/14/08 04:31 PM

Has any one seen the head line out of Vegas today? A 4 month old baby was mauled and killed by 2 pittbulls. Why she has discribed herself as a pittbull worries me. Did someone write that in a prewritten speech she read, or did she choose it for herself? Either way if she is this careless in what she says to us we are in trouble. And if she has givenherself this label should we concider ourselves forwarned about her nature. Keep in mind we would be the baby - her the attacker!!!

- Hockeygirl

Posted 09/14/08 04:39 PM

Yes, Palin is a Bush in moose clothing!

- christyd

Posted 09/14/08 04:49 PM