Of the ten states who rank highest in teen pregnancy rate, nine of them voted Republican in 2004, including all of the top six.
This leads me to believe that people who vote Republican aren’t necessarily the type of people who would hold a teen pregnancy against someone.
Edit: According to this site, once you factor out abortion, all 10 of the states representing the highest rates of live births by teens went Republican in 2004.
I found this quite humorous and didn’t see it coming.
I think this was a big mistake by McCain.
There are many women out there in politics who have much more experience than Palin who would’ve bene better.
Yeah, probably Bristol’s going to wind up taking care of both kids. It’s what she’s doing now anyhow. Ain’t that grand?
Here’s what I would love to see happen. Palin would say something like, “I recognize that my daughter has resources that most teen mothers don’t have. My special needs son will have access to all of the health care and services that he needs–many other special needs children in our country aren’t so lucky. In order to support other young families and promote a culture of life, I will fight for affordable health and prenatal care, increased access to social services, and a better economy for all American families.”
And then monkeys would fly out of my butt.
Yeah, and they were soundly shouted down by the many more posters here who said it was a personal matter and his/her decision to make.
Apparently, according to someone posting on the Mudflats website that was linked to over the weekend, he claimed he would do so when she became governor, but then balked when the actuality of the circumstances hit him. They thus had to “farm out” the care of the children to friends and family. I suppose that they could try this again, but the upshot seems to have been that their mono infected daughter nevertheless got pregnant.
They may need to find another solution.
There are 4 grandparents involved here, remember. But, sure, it’ll take some of her time. BFD. Are we to disqualify women from holding office because their children become parents?
I think we pay our VPs well enough that they can hire a nanny, as needed.
"We’re sorry, honey, but we decided not to hire you for that executive position.
We’ve found in the past that you girls get too distracted by your family situation and can’t give the kind of 110% commitment that a tough job like this requires. Besides, you might run off and get pregnant again, and then we would have to train someone else.
We are hiring for a secretary/Girl Friday position - are you interested?"
Regards,
Shodan
Well, seriously, Shodan…do you really think a woman can handle a career AND being a wife and mother? She really should just go back home where she belongs.
You seem a little irritable.
That time of the month?
Regards,
Shodan
Well, you know, we women are very emotional. 
Go fucking start your own fucking thread if you want to fucking talk about fucking sexism. Holy fucking shit. How many god damn times does the OP have to say “don’t hijack my thread” so you fuckers won’t hijack it?
Kidding aside, John Mace is right. Anyone who defended Edwards’ decision to go ahead and run (or for that matter, defended the selection of him for VP despite his lack of experience), really don’t have a leg to stand on as far as criticizing her in these areas.
It’s not a hijack if it’s relevant to the subject at hand.
It’s not relevant in the least bit. All it does is distract from the questions I asked in the OP. Allow me to quote myself:
Unless your answers are “No”, and “accuse people of sexism for bringing it up”, then the sex of Gov. Palin is irrelevant to my questions.
Whew! Glad I thought it was tacky, him running with a sick wife. Also glad I supported Al Gore’s 1991 decision to not run for president in '92 because his sone was recovering from a terrible accident. And I supported his run for Veep a year later because his kid was doing better. I think my position on the moral high ground is secure.
What a disingenuous response. Who said anything about “disqualifying”? Did anyone say “well, I’d vote for Sarah Palin except that her daughter is preggers?” or “Sarah Palin is clearly unqualified for the job because she has a pregnant daughter?”.
And of course, most times when someone’s children become parents the children aren’t 17.
The point I’m trying to make is that I don’t think her 5 month old baby and her pregnant daughter are, prima facie, irrelevant. They are certainly not major issues, but I don’t think they should just automatically be off the table and unworthy of discussion. (The baby being more important in my mind than the teenage daughter, although the teenage daughter is of course more salacious as far as media coverage is concerned.)
Well, you know, I’m not accusing anyone in particular! I’m just saying that there ought to be some consistency. And not just when the subject is a woman vs. a man, but also when it’s a Democrat vs a Republican. It shouldn’t be an issue only when it’s not your candidate.
Personally, I think it’s not my business how she handles her family issues, and I felt the same way about Edwards…I had ni dount that he had his wife’s blessing, and that’s good enough for me.
No.
Yes, but they have to be very careful about what comments they call sexist. If they call every criticism of her sexist, then the American public will reject their defensiveness and believe that the McCain campaign is operating in CYA mode. They need to narrowly reject those criticisms that implicitly accept that women are some kind of mystical irreplaceable nurturing spirits.
cindy mccain is holding the baby now. perhaps she will be the nanny.
oooop! dad is finally holding the baby! and mum is getting ready to speak.