 The McCain campaign and Palins asked for respect for the family's privac |
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, newly picked as Republican John McCain's running mate, has revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.
Mrs Palin, a social conservative who is opposed to abortion, said in a statement her daughter Bristol would keep the child and marry its father.
The Alaska governor, a mother-of-five, was presented three days ago as her party's vice-presidential candidate.
The McCain campaign and Palins asked for respect for the family's privacy.
Mrs Palin and her husband Todd said in a statement: "Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realise very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family."
Advisers to the McCain campaign said they had known about the pregnancy before offering Mrs Palin the vice-presidential nomination.
Yowza! I am not throwing stones (God knows I live in a glass house...or at least one with some huge windows), and I think that Palin's family's privacy should be respected. But this could be an anchor around the McCain ticket's neck. Her decision to keep the baby and marry the father (at 17) may play well for social conservatives and balance McCain's (comparatively) moderate position on abortion rights, but I would think this will wash out any support from the Hillary supporters that were giving Palin a second look.
4 comments:
Well, the funny thing is, the only people that seem to really give a crap are liberal democrats and the news media (But I repeat myself. heh). Again, most conservatives I've talked to don't seem to be too concerned. The fact that she kept the baby and wants to marry the father doesn't contradict conservative values. If anything it's another point showing that Palin is "of the people"; Teenage pregnancy is an issue that arises in families through all strata of the social landscape, and the fact that it's an issue in her own family just makes her all the more human.
But I give absolute props to Obama for how he addressed the issue:
"Let me be as clear as possible," Obama said. "I think people's families are off-limits, and people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor or her potential performance as a vice president."
Obama said reporters should "back off these kinds of stories" and noted that he was born to an 18-year-old mother.
"How a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics, and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that's off-limits."
Fuckin' A Right. Very classy. Too bad so many of his supporters aren't so much.
And just out of curiosity, why would "terminating" the baby or shunning the father be preferable to Hillary supporters? Last time I checked, there are still *plenty* of democrats who believe that two parent families and the raising of children to be positive ventures, not negative ones. And women who believe otherwise are likely to be yellow dog liberal democrats anyway, so that would hardly be considered a loss.
Overall, I think this is much ado about nothing. Now, I *do* feel the public has a right to know, of course. These are our presidential candidates we're talking about, and we should know who these people are and where they come from. But I don't think Bristol's pregnancy has any real bearing on the political credentials of Palin or McCain at all, and most conservatives I've talked to (even the hardcore republicans) seem to agree. If anything, it endears Palin to me even more. Go figure.
First of all, I think Obama's comments were on the money.
Second, I looked and the only thing I could find about McCain's reaction was that he knew about it before announcing her as his running mate. If someone can find his words please post them.
Third, the worst thing I have heard any "liberal" say is that this wouldn't look good to the evangelical base of the reps.
Fourth, only one major news outlet (CNN) is leading with something about this story today.
And finally, I personally think this was a planned release of information, politically calculated to have the exact effect on conservatives that Beck is describing. I think it is an astute move on the part of McCain camp to know about and even use this information to garner female/family support in this campaign. I think this has more of a positive spin for them and they knew it would. And not to be completely cynically but to be realistic, they needed this kind of humanizing element and chose her over more experienced people because of family factors: working mother, wife, pregnant teenage daughter - all this serves a fantastic distraction away from the issues (this is the Reps MO).
*The only negative thing I have heard any woman say about her is that she should be at home with her newborn child. Is that child special needs btw?*
The more I learn about Palin, the more I dislike her more than even McCain! Why you might ask?
Sex Ed - "firm supporter of abstinence-only education in schools"
Terrorism - She has said she supports President Bush's idea of stopping terrorism "by taking the fight to the terrorists"
Pro ANWR drilling
Creationism - In a televised debate in 2006, Palin said she supported teaching both creationism and evolution in public schools. She clarified her position the next day, saying that if a debate of alternative views arose in class she would not prohibit its discussion. She added that she would not push the state Board of Education to add creation-based alternatives to the state's required curriculum.
Global Warming - Palin does not believe that global warming is human-caused.
Same-Sex Marriage - Palin opposes same-sex marriage and supported a non-binding referendum for a constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to same-sex couples. Palin has stated that she supported the 1998 constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
F*CK HER! NO F***ING WAY WILL I VOTE FOR SOMEONE WITH THESE VIEWS.
- And to say one thing about the "off-limits" issue that I think is actually relevant, her husband works for BP. Hooray, more oil in the White House!
I don't think anyone has ever suggested that terminating the pregnancy would woo anyone...period. That would certainly be a death knell. I think Democrats are picking up on it since the "family values" bullshit that Republicans have swum in for years is antithetical to unwed teenage pregnancy. Everyone knows it happens and happens a lot. But it is the social conservatives and not the liberals that get on their high horses and point out all the unwed teenage parents and decry the immorality of the secular path of the country.
I am honestly a little surprised that social conservatives have welcomed the issue with such open arms and commended Palin's daughter. I mean, it's great she has a strong family structure and will probably raise a happy and well adjusted kid. Kudos to her. More power to her. But this is the point. All the conservative radio callers and chatty delegates interviewed are making a big deal about what a great choice the daughter made, it shows moral character, and it is a credit to the family that they stand beside her. Sure, great. But there is this tone involved that it is the nature of the family structure that makes it ok. If you have a loving and supportive (and wealthy) family to support you and get pregnant out of wedlock then that is super and a-ok. But if you are a poor girl with little family support that finds herself int he same position then you ar shit out of luck and should be scorned for your bad choices. It just seems completely hypocritical.
And for fucks sake no one has said or is saying that two parent, straight families are negative things. The message from the left has always been that two parent, straight families are no better (or worse) than single parent or same-sex families.
And no, the pregnancy has no bearing on the political credentials of the candidate. What seems to be leaking out is that McCain didn't look very closely at this candidate. He actually really wanted Lieberman or Tom Ridge, but there was a huge outcry from social conservatives to choose a firmly anti-abortion candidate, and both of the latter two are pro-choice.
See this article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26501863/
Damn it Reed, you said exactly what I was typing as a second comment:
"...no one has said or is saying that two parent, straight families are negative things. The message from the left has always been that two parent, straight families are no better (or worse) than single parent or same-sex families."
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