Rena's got 3 'mama grizzly' links about Mary Fallin's dogwhistle during the Oklahoma gubernatorial debate

Girlfriend! You are asking for trouble when you imply that your unmarried childless opponent is — well exactly what WAS Mary Fallin implying?

Whatever it was she was signaling to Oklahoma voters, it was inappropriate, and based on Mary’s background, she really shouldn’t be slinging any family values arrows around. Hey, maybe she thought Ginni Thomas was having all the fun in the I’m-holier-than-thou backfire department!

But you know how girls are, just can’t stop attacking each other, right? Here are three examples of females whose ears perked up at Mary’s major debate fail and just had to add their ‘catty’ comments to the fray. (Frankly, I’m amazed they were so cool and reasonable in the way they completely called her out on that shit.

1. Eleanor Swift
   

   Yet the Oklahoma race is between two women, and they’re both of an age where they should know better. Republican Fallin is 55; Democrat Askins is 57. They’ve seen the gains women have made in being judged on their own merits and not an outdated stereotype. The audience at the Oklahoma debate greeted Fallin’s citation of her motherhood as her key qualification with groans of displeasure, a signal that the voters have been there, done that on this particular gambit, and that even in a conservative state like Oklahoma where paeans to family values are standard fare, not having kids shouldn’t be a barrier to public service.

   The comments on this article pretty much demonstrate why Mary should not have “gone there.” I’m copying them here because I fear they may be removed by AOL.

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   comity2
   10:50 AM Oct 25, 2010

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   I do not think Fallin, should have brought the Kids, into light. I live in Oklahoma and did not know, she had kids or had gotten married, last I heard about her, she was in the news for seeing a married man or something. I knew she was in some kind of office all the time. It seems, if she could, she should have been home with the kids more. I’m not an Askins fan, but, it seems she could do her job, better, not having to worry about children at home. When I worked, I aways worried about my child, and what was happening in his world, when I couldn’t be there.

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   samw1819
   6:57 AM Oct 25, 2010

   If you think about it, what else does Fallin have to offer as being qualified, talk about a bag of rocks, and if if remember, she was having an affair with her current husband, (at the time he was assigned to her as her bodyguard), while one of the two was still married. One could say, we the taxpayers of Oklahoma paid for that courtship.

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   hunterwatches
   10:52 AM Oct 25, 2010

   Sam a few corrections. Mary Fallin married a man named Wade Christensen last year just as she was announcing her candidacy for governor. The affair occurred with a different man back in the 90s with an Oklahoma highway patrol officer assigned to her as a bodyguard when she was lt. gov. Both were married and Fallin’s tryst was witnessed by a private investigator. During the nasty divorce that came, Fallin’s lawyer tried to falsely paint the the picture that her husband had an unnatural relationship with their minor daughter, implying incest. Mary Fallin knew that wasn’t true, but had no problems giving her own daughter the life time false reputation of being in an incestuous relationship. Some mother. Fallin runs on a family values and motherhood platform, but she is a homewrecker, an adulteress, gave her child a life long blemish, and married a man for political convenience. Her children, raised mostly by their father, and her new husband’s children, who were raised by their own mother, are all adults. She’s an embarrassment.

2. St. Louis Smart Mama
   

   Motherhood should be a valid point on a resume. Raising and caring for our next generation is important work with the potential for huge long-term impact. But just as women shouldn’t be penalized for being mothers, we also shouldn’t be penalized for not being a mother. One isn’t better than the other.

   Women are a diverse group, with different strengths, passions, and interests. We are united by our ability to have children, but we don’t need to be defined by it.

3. PunditMom
   

   Listen, I’m all about taking mothers more seriously in the world of politics. But it borders on the ridiculous to set aside all other background and qualifications (Fallin is a congresswoman and Askins is Oklahoma’s Lieutenant Governor) of these candidates and ask people to vote on the basis of their ovaries and marital status. […]

   There are plenty of “mamas” to go around and the experiences we gain from motherhood can inspire us and propel us to run for office or to speak up or to seek change for those who need it. I know I’ve said if you want change, vote for a mom. But it is insulting to suggest that moms are by definition more qualified for political office — or anything else — than other women.

   It’s a matter of degree. In the post-Sarah Palin era, more women are embracing the “mama grizzly” moniker (even some who aren’t mothers)! But if you’re a woman candidate who wants votes from all women, there’s a motherhood line you can’t cross. And I’m afraid Mary Fallin may have jumped onto the wrong side of that one.

There are also long comment threads on Topix.com, other social sites, and blogs across the land, hashing out this Fallin claim to maternal superiority, and by vast majorities, it’s a thumbs down for Mary and yes, in every case her not so family friendly past gets dredged up, and Oklahomans, women in particular, say they now will vote for Jari Askins over this. Way to go, Mary!