My respect for Sen. Obama is growing with this statement. I think families and their issues should be off-limits in a campaign. It's a diversion from issues of the day that need to be discussed as the two campaigns enter into the final eight weeks.
Maybe it's because I'm from the midwest, were every high school graduating class included at least one young woman who was pregnant. And I can hear the arguments now, that Gov. Palin supports abstinence-only programs. Well, oppose her candidacy for THAT reason -- not because her daughter may have rebelled against strict family rules. I can't be the only person who has ever heard it said that the preachers kids were the worst in the community. Kids do things against the will of their parents -- its a reality every parent should understand.
As I have mentioned already, there are plenty of reasons to oppose McCain-Palin -- their position on the war, the economy, our energy crisis, global warming, the list is endless.
The fact that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant, shouldn't be one of them.
And keep in mind the Republican religious right base will very likely embrace Palin and her daughter for 'doing the right thing by keeping the baby.' Tony Perkins, of Focus on the Family, has already issued a statement supporting Palin and her family:
"Fortunately, Bristol is following her mother and father's example of choosing life in the midst of a difficult situation. We are committed to praying for Bristol and her husband-to-be and the entire Palin family as they walk through a very private matter in the eyes of the public," Perkins said in a written statement.The new Democratic Party leader has spoken:
"We don't go after people's families; we don't get them involved in the politics. It's not appropriate, and it's not relevant," he added. "Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I ever thought that there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they'd be fired."Obama has eight weeks to win this election. He needs everyone to stay focused on the job at hand.
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18 comments:
Excellent. I'm glad he said this.
Please, please, please people attack them politically and not personally nor based on bigotry (racism, ageism, sexism, etc.)
It is what they do politically that is the issue.
Absolutely! There's plenty of substance on which to expose the McCain/Palin ticket. I was surprised how quickly bloggers grabbed this story and ran with it.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if this turned into a campaign where each side tried to take more a high road than the other!
I agree with all above, excellent post! It's too bad that there are some who think that attacking family members, especially children are fair game, so Rovian and dirty, IMO. I was hoping the Dems would be above all that stuff.
Oh...and thanks for the Sunday funnies, I didn't have time to comment as I was flying through all the blogs to see what I missed. That's one of my favorite features on this blog!
Sorry.
How these children proceed with their family is indeed a private family matter.
But I refuse to take off the table the discussion that abstinence only education works. Sarah Palin ought to admit her failure on that one at least.
And as regards staying out of private matters
Did the republicans leave John Edwards private family matter alone? He's not even in contention to be veep.
Did the republicans leave Bill Clinton alone when he had an extra-marital affair?
Do the republicans leave my choice of how I want to conduct my sex life as a personal family matter?
Do the republicans let me decide which orifice ought to be used in which manner in the privacy of my home?
Do the republicans allow me to even decide if I want to use a toy in the conduct of sex with my husband?
Do the republicans want to leave Barack Obama's faith choice alone as a personal family matter?
Sarah Palin is a hypocrite for wanting to legislate the sex lives of every other American, intruding the government into every OB-GYN consultation in America, yet hopes her personal parental failure is off the table?
Sorry. I'm not letting it go.
And for the record, she hasn't proven the first set of rumors about Trig to be false. Which make her a liar, too.
He's a bigger man than I am.
Perhaps it's the way I was raised---in my family, we were taught to go for the jugular in every possible way.
Growing up here, I knew of at least one unwanted pregnancy in high school that usually resulted in one of two things: quiet withdrawal from school to have the child or an equally quiet abortion.
Jess - no one is suggesting you take the ISSUE of abstinence only education off the table. That is one of the primary reasons I would not support McCain/Palin.
And no one is suggesting that the ISSUES of privacy or separation of church and state be taken off the table. They are additional reasons I would not support McCain/Palin.
And why in the hell would anyone want to act like a Republican? I think BOTH the Edwards and Bill Clinton extra-marital affairs should have been off-limits. And Obama's faith choice doesn't belong in a discussion of who would be the best president.
I'm sure Sarah Palin would prefer that her daughter's situation not be dragged through the press, just as I'm sure she would like to see the Trig discussion go away. But these are NO WIN issues for Democrats.
The more progressives attack Palin on this, the more conservatives -- particularly religious right conservatives -- will coalesce around her. Far too many families have faced this issue, and Palin is going to come off looking very sympathetic in their eyes.
So please feel free to beat this horse to death, but it's a losing debate IMHO.
BAC
And why in the hell would anyone want to act like a Republican?
Because the high road has only ever led to our losses.
Liars need to be exposed. Hypocrites need to be called out.
Do you recall that the ONLY person to criticize George Bush by name at the 2004 convention was Jimmy Carter? A week later we saw republican conventioneers wearing purple heart band-aids.
The very first paragraph in my local newspaper on Sarah Palin was the story of her heroic flight during labor last April. THEY brought that story and the fact that it is most likely a fraud needs to be called out.
Religious right people are coalescing around her regardless, it's why she was chosen. But her personal story (even excluding Trig's parentage) is not going to endear her to moderates. That is the point.
I'm glad Obama is staying out of the fray but, no, I do not intend to.
Liars need to be exposed. Hypocrites need to be called out.
I don't recall Bristol Palin or the infant Trig, lying or being hypocrites, and yet their pictures are plastered all over the blogosphere and especially Bristol's reputation is being smeared. Not to mention,they are now smearing the father of Bristol's baby, Levi. Did he lie to anyone? They're just teenagers for gosh sakes! Do any of these people remember what it was like to be a teen? As if it's not hard enough, they have to be smeared all over the Internet.
This is just wrong...just pathetic and wrong.
Who has smeared Trig? Who has smeared Bristol? That's not been the bent of the majority of the coverage.
Bristols reputation? What on earth does that even mean? Her virtue?
You do realize that thanks to draconian laws put on the books by republicans young Levi committed a felony, do you not?
Do you recall that the ONLY person to criticize George Bush by name at the 2004 convention was Jimmy Carter?
Jess, I don't think you are hearing what I'm saying. I think the Democrats DO need to go after John McCain, and now Sarah Palin, ON THE FUCKING ISSUES.
If we can't defeat a man who wants to stay in Iraq for the next 100 years then we deserve to lose!
If we can't defeat a man who thinks the middle class includes anyone earning $5 million a year or less then we deserve to lose!
If we can't defeat a team who opposes abortion rights, stem cell research, and wants abstinence only education in public schools then we deserve to lose!
I want red meat as much as you do, Jess. I just don't want the red meat to be children.
BAC
jess wunderin-
Bristols reputation? What on earth does that even mean? Her virtue?
That's pathetic, and that kind of stuff is exactly why McCain and the Republicans are coming out of this smelling like a rose and the Democrats are looking like a bunch of hateful lunatics. Heckuvajob, you guys....you're really doing a heckuvajob.
You show me where I've said anything about Bristol's reputation.
It was HER PARENTS who used her pregnancy to quell rumors about the parentage of Trig. And BTW that is all they have produced as evidence.
What all y'all don't seem to get is that they use 'Sarah's compelling life story', 'Sarah's fantastic mothering skills' etc. as evidence of her qualifications.
Had THEY not opened those cans of worms first, I'd have been happy as hell to leave them alone. But they have. My points are consistently based on Sarah Palin's actions - which for the most bolster the ISSUE that government cannot legislate our personal lives. Sarah disagrees with me.
Also, it's nice that you've all decided to take the moral high road with the republicans. If only you could have done that in your opposition to Obama.
(I believe maryellen calls him a liar in today's post, even.)
jess- yeah, we don't want none of that there moral high ground now do we? Let's just get in the mud with the rest of the pigs. That's the ticket!
The difference between you and I, Jess, is that I don't attack the children of Barack Obama or Joe Biden. I will call Obama on his lies, that doesn't make me the bad person, it makes him the liar. You tell me one time that I ever printed anything about Obama that was not true. Of course, you can't because I am careful about verifying everything I write. Something that you don't seem to keen on. It's easier to spread a bunch of lies about a couple of teenagers and then when it's proved false, you still continue to spread it and make excuses. This is why Obama's numbers can't climb above 59%, he's got a bunch of Kossacks out there calling everyone who doesn't support the guy a racist.
Oh, and you show me where in my post that I called Obama a liar. I linked to the video on this blog that showed him telling you guys to knock off this slander on Sarah's kids. How is that calling him a liar? Get your facts straight for once in you life.
Like I said...heckuvajob.
Nice high road you've taken, mary ellen. Calling me names is real classy.
I haven't attacked any of those children. I have attacked their mother. The one who is using them in the first place.
Here's your comment:
"I’ve said all along that [Obama] he was unqualified, and I think he will prove me right. He’s already proved that he will lie through his teeth for a vote,"
Yeah, that's factual. Also, I read where you said this about someone who disagreed with you "I have kept my posts and comments to the issues, not personal attacks. I think those who can do nothing more than lob personal attacks do it because they can’t defend their candidate.
Didn't take you long to go after personal attacks on me, did it?
Done here for good.
jess-
That wasn't in my post, it was probably in a comment that I made in response to someone else's comment. I never said I never called Obama a liar, because he has been caught in many lies...which would make him a liar. That's not a personal attack on Obama, that's just a fact. There's a difference.
And what names did I call you? There was no personal attack against you, it was a comment about what you said, saying that Bristol had no virtues. I said it is stuff that you wrote that gives the impression that ALL Democrats are a bunch of hateful lunatics. Like it or not, this is what is being said about Democrats and it's comments like the one you made that make them think this. If the shoe fits, wear it, but I never put it on you, it was your choice.
It might be time for everyone to take a deep breath.
And let's establish one reality -- politicians lie. If I want to be generous I could say they sometimes exagerate what they believe to be the truth -- or what they think will help them win an election.
Jess, you said: Also, it's nice that you've all decided to take the moral high road with the republicans. If only you could have done that in your opposition to Obama.
I did. I consistently said that I didn't think Sen. Obama was ready to be president. I didn't think he would be able to fight back against the Republican smear machine. I still have those doubts today. I think Sen. Clinton would have been a much stronger general election candidate. I will not, however, vote for John McCain.
I praised Sen. Obama's convention speech, and his statement asking the media to back off of Gov. Palin's family.
You may choose to agree or disagree with me, but my positions have been consistent.
BAC
and you said also that your respect for Obama was growing.
I appreciate that.
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