What galls me about the whole issue of Gov. Palin being chosen as Sen. McCain’s VP candidate is that so many people — generally Republicans — have used it as an almost gleeful in-your-face slap to the Obama campaign. During an NPR report on the Republican convention coming up next week in St. Paul, one delegate was quoted as saying something about how the Obama campaign had spent the better part of the last few months keeping a “lady” from the Democratic ticket, and now they supposedly have to keep the rest of us ladies from flocking to Sarah Palin over on the Republican side.

Misogynists exist in every political party — just ask the fired Obama campaign staffer who referred to HRC as a “monster” — but they seem to really like hanging out with the Republicans. This guy seemed to assume that women’s impulsive and irrational nature would cause us to stampede over to their dark side just because they plucked a female governor from an obscure state to dangle tantalizingly in front of our gender-biased eyes.

Sure, one of the reasons why I supported HRC was because she’s a woman, pure and simple. I’ve always thought it was high time an XX-chromosome politician became president and the most powerful person in the world. Why not a woman? I can’t imagine that a woman would do a worse job than any man has ever done.

But let’s get real here. HRC also stands for a number of issues that Palin does not, namely, abortion rights, gun control and a responsible energy policy that doesn’t involve rampaging through fragile ecosystems. To vote for Sarah Palin out of spite because one is bitter about the outcome of the Democratic race would not only be stupid, it would be an insult to all that HRC has worked for all her life. Not to mention that it would reinforce this idea that women are an emotional, illogical and resentful bunch who would rather sabotage their future than vote for their chosen candidate’s opponent. An opponent, may I add, who that candidate eventually — and enthusiastically — supported.

It’s still all so new, and for the first time in my life I think I’m actually going to watch the Republican National Convention on TV next week. At least, the evenings when Sarah Palin and Sen. McCain make their speeches. As the next few weeks unfold, we’ll have a better idea of who this Gov. Palin is and whether or not she really has the chops to occupy the 2nd highest post in the land.

And of course, I’m now bummed that I’m going to miss a big part of it, as I’ll be out of the country until the end of September. But at the same time it’ll be interesting to see how the foreign press and those outside of the United States view the latest unexpected twist in this historic election.