Wait, Mccain seriously picked Palin, knowing that her daughter was pregnant?? someone mind doing the task of explaining to this 16 year old on how this was a "smart" idea? Especially since Palin is a pro-abstinence christian
She is also pro-life.
well, i think its a big deal to the majority of southern voters
Yeah, because that barefoot and pregnant sterotype we have came from nowhere. By the time I graduated high school five girls, out of 118 students, in my class had babies, including the class president. Oh, and all of them attended church regularly and were quick to judge anyone that did something they didn't see as "good."
It isn't as if the bible belt is the land of pure abstinence. Despite your stereotype, it means nothing in the south to anyone under the age of 60.
The arguement would likely be that for someone who is touting family values so strongly, it just seems a bit "odd" that her daughter is 17 and having a child out of wedlock (they do plan to marry, however). It goes against what they would normally rally against, pre-marital sex, abstinence, etc. The key here would be if or how they are able to turn it into something positive, but I'm currently uncertain of what the best way of doing it would be.
I believe Obama said it best when he said it was a non-issue. I saw him on Good Morning America this morning saying that his mother was 18 when he was born and he refuses to judge Governor Palin on this.
Getting pregnant at 17 and out-of-wedlock was a bad idea, but it's not her mother's fault that she made a bad decision. I don't see why Governor Palin should be held accountable for her daughter's mistake. It could be claimed that Palin could have raised her daughter better, but then again, nobody's perfect.
In all honesty, her daughter's lack of judgment likely comes from the fact that her mother is a prominent pro-family, abstinence politician. It is similar the the idea of how preacher's kids are usually the first to act out and misbehave. Combine the fact that her oldest child, her son, seems to be doing everything just perfect and a bit of rebellious attitude seems reasonable.
Then the fact that Palin's baby is as almost as old as her daughter is pregnant tells me that with one parent in the hospital and doctor's office there may have been some understandable gaps in parental attentiveness.
I think it'd be a much bigger blow to the Republicans if Palin, who described herself "
as pro-life as any candidate can be," had allowed her daughter to abort the baby. That would probably end all hope for the Republicans in the election.
Actually, this plays heavily in her favor. The biggest argument that I hear from pro-lifers after they abandon the women's body line of argument is, "You don't know what it is like to make that choice." That argument has just been muted.
Also, I'm curious as to exactly why McCain chose Palin as his running mate. I'm certain it has a lot to do with her ideals, but I wonder if he chose her because she might bring over those older female Democrats who're unhappy that Hillary didn't win the nomination or get picked as VP. Thoughts?
This is a good question. To answer part of it I have to bring out the giant gorilla in the room that many people have been ignoring, race and sex.
I know plenty of people who were voting for Hillary because they thought it would be awesome to have a female president. They couldn't discuss a single issue, but they knew she was a woman. Equally some people are voting for Obama based on race. Others just want to take part in monumental point in American politics, race or sex either would work.
McCain has just given an option to group 1 and group 3.
He also can now appeal to conservative mothers. I know for the first time ever my mom can look at a politician and associate herself with her completely. My mother is a pro-abstinence, pro-life, career woman. That has never been seen in politics. My mom even admitted that if Hillary weren't pro-choice she would have considered her as a viable option because she could associate with her more, but her abortion stance was too big for her to get past.
And part of it is clearly her principles. While she is new, she has been big on cleaning up corruption, which considering how many complaints toward President Bush there have been regarding how he has gone about things, she gives McCain a quick response to any issues that may come up.
And at the end of the day, we are all talking about her and not Obama's speech.
How can you preach abstinence to the masses when you can't get your own daughter to follow suit?
Are you going to tell me that when you were 17 you didn't do anything your parents didn't approve of? And when you did those things did that make any comment on the subject your parents had invalid?
I have done a number of stupid things, but that does not make my mother a bad parent, nor does it make her opinions any less respectable.
If it worked like that then no parents would be allowed to voice opinions.
