Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University

1) In your most recent posting, you discuss Sarah Palin's choice as a Vice Presidential Candidate. How is she different than Geraldine Ferraro?

Geraldine Ferraro is a lawyer by training.  Born in 1935, she came of age politically when women had to fight to join the nearly exclusive "male club" of politics.  In running for office for the 9th Congressional District in Queens, her campaign slogan was "Finally, A Tough Democrat."  Women in her generation had to be more "manly" than their male counterparts.  Anyone watching her 1984 debate with then Vice President George H.W. Bush had to be impressed.

Sarah Palin was born nearly thirty years after Ferraro.  Women are now well represented professionally as lawyers, doctors, academics, and, increasingly, politicians.  Palin has a media background, rather than a legal background.  Unlike Ferraro's generation, Palin doesn't have to prove she's "man enough" for the job.  She's tough; she's tenacious, but she doesn't have to compartmentalize her role as mother from her role as governor.  She enjoys taking her children with her on political trips.  No one questions her dedication as a politician or a mother.  Voters recognize her as tough and feminine.  Strong and maternal.  Attractive and competent.  But make no mistake, for Palin to challenge the old boy network in the Alaskan Republican Party, she had, as she said, "to ruffle a few feathers." 

2) In your mind, what are some of the historical precedents relative to women in leadership roles? For example, Margaret Thatcher in Britain?

Margaret Thatcher governed as Prime Minister in Britain from 1979-1990, longer than any leader in Britain since Lord Salisbury (1886-1891, 1896-1902) and longer consecutively in power than any leader since Lord Liverpool (1812-27).  All three were conservatives.  It's no surprise that the first woman to govern in Britain belonged to the Conservative Party, and it's very possible that the first woman to govern in America will belong to the Republican Party.  A woman must demonstrate to voters her ability to make tough decisions.  Voters accept this more readily from a Republican.  For this reason, Sarah Palin has the potential to become America's first woman president. 

3) How would Sarah Palin's election (with John Mc Cain) possibly affect education?

Palin is the daughter of an educator. She understands the benefits that accrue to children who are given the tools and resources to make their way in the world.  She has promised to devote herself to educational issues should she become Vice President.

4) As many know Sarah Palin has a child with special needs. Does this make her a good candidate, an attractive candidate, or perhaps a "special educational needs" candidate?

A lot of lip service is given to special needs children.  But Sarah Palin's day-to-day experience of raising her son Trig will make her particularly sensitive to the educational and support services required for special needs children.  Sarah Palin will be highly motivated, and America's children will be the beneficiaries.  No parent could hope for a stronger advocate.

5) What is this Primrose League all about and how is it relevant to Sarah Palin?

The Primrose League was the largest, most effective extra-parliamentary organization in the history of Britain.  It advanced the cause of the Conservative Party.  It was particularly influential from the 1880's until World War I.  During this period more than two million members joined.  Women were active organizers and campaigners even though they were ineligible at that time to vote for parliamentary leaders.  The Primrose League was so effective, in fact, that Herbert Gladstone, son to Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone, complained in 1887, "All the unscrupulous women of England are members of the Primrose League."

The League demonstrates the power and influence women have had on conservative party politics dating back to the 1880's.  Women in the League received more support and attention than their Liberal counterparts, the Women's Federation League.  Because of new legislation imposing limits on campaign expenditures and prohibitions on bribery, the Conservatives relied on the Primrose League to canvass voters and take them to the polls on Election Day. As the first mass political organization in which women were substantially represented, the Primrose League paved the way for Margaret Thatcher and, by implication, Sarah Palin.

 

6)  What do you see as the parallels between Margaret Thatcher and Sarah Palin? Why should we examine these parallels in terms of education and the study of women in leadership roles?

Margaret Thatcher came from a family of modest means, as does Sarah Palin.  Thatcher embraced aspirational values based on a market economy, so does Palin.  Thatcher was a devout Christian, so is Palin.  Thatcher sought to end the welfare state, so has Palin sought independence for Alaska by means of a trans-national gas pipeline.  Thatcher favored military intervention in the Falklands, so has Palin through her support of the war in Iraq.  Thatcher was a maverick, so is Palin.  Thatcher represented a new kind of leadership within her party, neither privileged nor wedded to the welfare state: Palin embodies these virtues.  Thatcher was determined; Palin is "barracuda" tough.  Thatcher possessed charm and regal bearing; Palin personifies feminine grace fortified with frontier grit.

It is critical to understand how we evolve as a civilization.  Society does not exist in a vacuum.  What happens in the past shapes our behavior now.  The present, in turn, will impact our future. 

7) Margaret Thatcher was Secretary of State in Britain for education. Most people do not know this.... What accomplishments if any, did she bring about?

The "Iron Lady" was known for taking tough stands.  Universal free milk for children in schools age 7-11 was abolished, though it should be noted, Labor had already abolished this universal right for children attending secondary school.  Thatcher opposed the forced merger of college preparatory schools--grammar schools--with trade schools--secondary modern--to form comprehensive schools, although the process was so entrenched by the time the Conservative Party came to power that comprehensive schools became the standard.

Margaret Thatcher ensured that education remained a right, not a privilege.  She refused to institute fees for the use of library books.  She saved the Open University, an important educational resource instituted by the Labor government, from fiscal demise by members of her own party.

 8) What does George Bernard Shaw's playMajor Barbara have to do with Sarah Palin and what connections are there?

British socialist George Bernard Shaw received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. Major Barbara is a powerful mediation on capitalism, politics, war, and religion and their impact on modern society.  The character Undershaft, an arm's manufacturer, makes the case that "Nothing is Ever Done in this World Until men are prepared to kill one another if it is not done."  Poverty, Undershaft argues, is the greatest infamy: "All the other crimes are virtues beside it: all the other dishonors are chivalry itself by comparison.  Poverty blights whole cities; spreads horrible pestilences; strikes dead the very souls of all who come within sight, sound or smell of it."  A destitute man, Undershaft informs Major Barbara--his daughter who works in the Salvation Army--will never be converted to religion.  But steady employment will make him both conservative and religious.  "In three weeks he will have a fancy waistcoat; in three months a tall hat and a chapel sitting; before the end of the year he will shake hands with a duchess at a Primrose League meeting, and join the Conservative Party."

Undershaft's powerful condemnation of poverty could be made by Barack Obama. Undershaft's theory on why economic prosperity favors conservatism has been acknowledged by Liberals (see Drew Westen'sThe Political Brain).  McCain/Palin could advance Undershaft's contention that the threat of war is the means by which social order is preserved.  And Undershaft makes an interesting argument that religion attracts converts when the desperate struggle to survive no longer motivates every human endeavor.

9) What question have I neglected to ask? 

How do I learn more about the factors shaping the 2008 presidential election?

Check out my website, www.literarygulag.com, which features political commentary on the 2008 presidential election along with essays on literary criticism.

Published October 25, 2008