Palin says 17-year-old daughter is pregnant!

[Theben]

Wiggy, will you please shut up and go to a gay club already?

and,

I'm about as far from a fan of McCain and Palin as you get, but the job that she's applying for is Vice President, not America's mommy. Whether or not her daughter gets knocked up is totally not relevant.

I wonder what the ultra-Xians will think about it, tho.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Theben
I wonder what the ultra-Xians will think about it, tho.

FRC statement
BATON ROUGE, La., Sept 01, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- FRC President Tony Perkins released the following statement regarding the reports of Gov. Palin's daughter, Bristol being pregnant:
"Unfortunately, teenage pregnancy has become all too common in today's society regardless of a family's economic or social status. It is problem that we remain committed to reducing through encouraging young people to practice abstinence," Perkins said.
"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 added.

Plus Dobson's statement

[Ramo]

Q: Will you support funding for abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex-education programs, school-based clinics, and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?

SP: Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.

http://eagleforumalaska.blogspot.com/2006/07/2006-gubernatorial-candidate.html

[Asher]

Why argue with the success of abstinence only education?

[Zkribbler]

There's only two things that may keep this from being a non-story.

First, if the ultra-conservative fundamentalist Church Ladies desert Palin because she is a "bad mother." I doubt this will happen.

Second, if it turns out that Palin has been teaching her children that abstinence is the only proper form of birth control.

[Ramo]

The questionaire's pretty amusing. Also in there:

11. Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?
SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

[DanS]

At the end of the day, few large families escape things like this happening. The true test is the family's reaction. The Palins' reaction is a good one, as far as I'm concerned. Probably better than my family's reaction in a somewhat analogous situation. My family learned its lessons and the second time around handled it much better.

Also remember that the Cheneys love their daughter -- who is a lesbian -- too. The electorate will be forgiving.

[Asher]

Even I know the origins of "Under God".

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Ramo
I'm about as far from a fan of McCain and Palin as you get, but the job that she's applying for is Vice President, not America's mommy. Whether or not her daughter gets knocked up is totally not relevant.

Actually, it is, but only because the GOP has accidentally made it so. The campaign has already been pushing Palin's image as a mom as part of her "qualifications." They can barely utter her name without using the phrase "hockey mom." So her identity and performance as a parent is, in fact, relevant, but only because the GOP put it in play; the fact that her Christian parenting has contributed another unwed teenage mother to America is just icing on the cake.

[Thoth]

Originally posted by Ramo

All this demonstrates is the total lunacy of teaching kids abstinence instead of birth control.

Originally posted by Asher

Even I know the origins of "Under God".

Some sort of gay-sex reference?

[DanS]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
So her identity and performance as a parent is, in fact, relevant, but only because the GOP put it in play; the fact that her Christian parenting has contributed another unwed teenage mother to America is just icing on the cake.

This is an intellectual argument, but you aren't actually suggesting that this will have a negative political impact on Palin, are you?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by DanS


This is an intellectual argument, but you aren't actually suggesting that this will have a negative political impact on Palin, are you?

No, sadly, it won't. In fact, if the Dems try to make anything out of it, it'll probably backfire. What's frustrating, though, is that if it were the Dem candidate's teenage daughter -- say, the oldest Gore girl during the 1992 campaign -- the GOP would never, ever, ever let it go, and they'd probably profit from it.

I do hope, however, that Palin will now be dogged at every step about the efficacy of abstinence-only education. That is fair game, and she deserves every one of the questions that comes her way.

[DanS]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
What's frustrating, though, is that if it were the Dem candidate's teenage daughter -- say, the oldest Gore girl during the 1992 campaign -- the GOP would never, ever, ever let it go, and they'd probably profit from it.

To be honest, I don't recall that it was a real campaign issue in 1992. Just because the GOP dogged her (if it did), doesn't mean the party profited from it. Some Dems have a complex with regard to the GOP in these types of matters.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by DanS


To be honest, I don't recall that it was a real campaign issue in 1992. Just because the GOP dogged her (if it did), doesn't mean the party profited from it.

It wasn't an issue because it didn't happen -- the Gore girls are apparently brighter than Bristol Palin -- but my point is that, if Kristen Gore had been a 5-months-pregnant 18-year-old when Al was being nominated, the GOP attack machine would have grabbed onto that for dear life and never let go; the poor kid's pregnancy would have been linked to her dad's "permissive liberal values" in a constant drumbeat all the way to election day.

I do think Bristol should be left alone, but if she is it will be because the Dems are running a more honorable campaign than the GOP ever would in the same circumstances. That's all I'm saying.

[Zkribbler]

It's the news media that should be shot.

Obama was trying to run a race-free campaign. And the media always focused on the racial breakdown in the polling.

Clinton was trying to run a gender-free campaign. And the media was always focusing on the women's vote.

The Palin's have asked the media to let this be a family matter. So now it's covered every 20 minutes on CNN.