Fair enough - I'm a 25 year old guy, and maybe this is one of those things that you get more once you're a parent. But to put it crudely, people are going to fuck (which is why the abstinence only BS from the right bugs me) - while a good parent can certainly raise their kid to be careful (ie, use protection) and respect themselves, hormones are just that. I think that if anything, the religous right types will rally around this girl , saying she's a better kid for keeping it and marrying the son.


PS - apparently, I'm the evil left-winger in this discussion (which amuses me to no end), and you're the evil righty - shouldn't our positions be on different sides? :D

Very much agreed.....this shows a mother who should have been more of a parent to her daughter than running around running for public office. I was so happy with this choice 48 hours ago and now it's looking bad.

The question is would we be saying these things if Palin was a man?

I doubt we'd even be talking about it at all, because if that was the case, then Palin wouldn't be the VP pick.

More than that, Palin is a big crusader for "Abstinence only" sex education. Doesn't that make this a pretty big poltical story, and sort of an "epic fail" on the part of Palin? "Abstinence only" sure didn't work in her house, did it?


I've also read she is against birth control in all forms, even for married couples. Yeah, she's a peach of a cadidate.

Wouldn't be entirely too sure about that since I've heard her described (prior to last week) as a female Bobby Jindal... unless you think Jindal is big time mostly because of his race.

We must know some really different folks in "the moral right".

Heck, I wasn't happy with it 48 hours ago but now it looks even worse to me.

As I said to a friend offline on the day of the announcement, the thing that worries me most is what we don't know yet, which is why her downside is bigger than her upside. Well ... ta-dah.

I think Jindal is much more ready for the national stage.

edut: But I agree there's a lot of sexism at work with this story.

You don't think gender played a major role in this selection? They're not targeting Hilary voters? You think a male 1st term Governor of Alaska gets selected VP? Well, I guess you're entitled to your opinion.

In the sense that people are suggesting that it's her fault for not staying home to prevent this from happening, then I agree. However, a male right wing moralist would still get heavily criticized if this happened.

It's part of it, but I think the more likely reason was that she has some right-wing chops. That's the reason Jindal was high on the list before Jindal said he didn't want the 2nd job.

I think that if you actually had a VP pool worth selecting from, she wouldn't have been the pick. When Romney is your best pick of the rest, well...

Not necessarily, see: Reagan

That was one nice thing about Dick Cheney's vice-presidency. You'd never see his unmarried daughter getting pregnant.

Not through traditional methods at least ;)

When I saw that headline daughter pregnant and the story mentioned that the reason they released this info was becuase some people were saying the youngest child of PALIN was actually the daughter's I thought wow did this choice go from 60 to 0 real fast. I am pretty surprised by evryones reaction to this. I myself don't find it shocking or anything but what little I know about the right is that this won't sit well with them. I agree it is too bad for the girl that this story got out but she should of expected it with her running for vice president. Also, it is too bad that the Dems won't have thge balls to call out McCain in this selection being a poor one as this could be veiwed as a case of bad judgement on his part. I know if this story had been reversed the GOP woul dhave no qualms going all out using it. Just my two cents.

If I was a democrat, I would take the high road. The Republicans will implode over this. No reason to piss anybody off...just take the high road and let it happen and then you dont' get your hands dirty and look like you care. (as you watch a mess develop)

I agree. No one needs to touch this.

The more time passes since the Palin pick, the more I think that McCain made a knee-jerk reaction after seeing/hearing Obama's DNC speech. It really appeared that McCain was prepared to name Romney or Pawlenty VP the day before (and both seemed to be shocked that it was not one or the other, as well), but I think McCain decided to go with the maverick selection without properly vetting Palin.

Almost any candidate will say that the biggest decision that they make in running for president is the selection of the vice presidential candidate. And right now, it seems hard to believe that, out of all of the active and retired governors/senators/congressmen/military leaders/business leaders, Sarah Palin was the best choice that John McCain could find to replace him as president.

So far no particular revelation has been incredibly damaging, but McCain has been on the defensive since Saturday. He better hope he can regain the initiative over the three real days of the convention.

dola

Maybe McCain didn't know:

I think that people on this thread and out in the world who are slamming Palin aren't understanding that this pick wasn't made for them. I see a lot of people saying McCain totally messed up and once people see what kind of beliefs Palin has, Obama will landslide this election. This, of course, is contrasted by the fact that evangelicals are giddy (I've read articles about some evangelicals hugging and crying when they heard the news) and McCain made $4 million over the weekend after he selected her.

The reason the Dems lost the last two Prez elections is that they were too confident. They underestimated their opponent and didn't fight nearly as hard as they should have. They just thought the public would realize Georgie Boy was a moron and flock to them. They were wrong.

It's one of the reasons I liked Hillary. For all her missteps, the one thing she would have done would have been to take the attack to the Republicans. If Obama is smart, he'll unleash Hillary on the campaign trail as his attack dog.

Those just mocking Palin and thinking as soon as people find out about her will magically flock to McCain may find themselves on November 5th saying "What the Hell happened?!!". Palin was a very smart political pick, as it energized the evangelical vote, who to date, where very meh on McCain. And as Bush showed in 2004, one can win by just appealing to your own base and tearing the other guy down so their base doesn't come out in as great numbers.

The big thing will be to NOT be complacent that McCain picked a woman who is very (very) right wing. He's just increased the enthusiasm and turnout of his base on voting day by a TON.

Ugh, I hate evangelicals...and that's rediculous. Link?

http://www.speakout.com/VoteMatch/Senate2006.asp#sec0


Pretty interesting poll that matches you up with the candidates in the race currently. Like all things like this, a grain of salt...but interesting.

sweet DC - I always enjoy doing these - I find doing a multitude can make one more informed.

FYI - I scored a 3-way tie for highest with the socialists, the green party, and Obama at 53%. No surprise my McCain-agreement was 18%.

I love polls like this. It told me 28% Mccain, 28% Obama, 28% Barr.. Awesome! :)

All it ended up being for me is evidence that there is no candidate in the race for the Left-leaning Libertarian.

clearly the solution is to vote for yourself as a write-in candidate

Barr doesn't seem like much of a libertarian from how this quiz interpreted his positions.

Well, because he's a converted Republican who says he's "changed his ways."

McCain and Obama were on the bottom of my survey. Which was affirming, but interesting. It told me La Riva was the #1 pick for me..which is strange.

Obama my #1, Hillary #2, McPain near the bottom.

Hillary #1, with 53% (81% social, 33% economic)

But then it got weird, as McKinney was my #2, followed by La Riva.

Obama is my #4 with 45% (56% social, 38% economic)

McCain is my #7 with 38% (31% social, 42% economic)

Hillary is the one who matches me the MOST socially with 81% and Barr is the one who matches me most economically with 50%.

Eh, not worth taking since a majority of the questions I had no opinion on. No one, as expected, scored high.

Barr #1 25%
McKinney and Clinton scored higher than Obama, with Nader being higher still.

None to surprising, I thougth some of the wording could've been better on a few that forced me to chose "no opinion".

#1 McCain -- 40%
#2 Barr -- 28% (I guess I live under a rock, I've never even heard of this guy before)
#6 Obama -- 20%
#7 Clinton -- 18%

Thanks to Buccaneer's wording and mine, I guess it's official...I'm old. :)

Require hiring more women & minorities

That is a pretty stupid way to word it, and the way they have candidates matched to that statement is pretty dishonest.

For example, "Ending racial profiling is part of fight for justice" is supposed to support this topic. Not to mention "Sponsored bill for a Rosa Parks commemorative postage stamp."

I mean, Tom Coburn was a co-sponsor of that postage stamp bill, so I guess that revealed his secret support of quotas.

1# Mc Cain at 60%
Barr 48%
Obama at 20%
HilRod at 13%

The funny thing as I look closer...

I am closest economically to Barr at 29%

Socially I have both Mccain and Obama tied with the lead at 50% each.

I'm not sure which is more messed up.. my political leanings, or this quiz. I'm thinking this quiz :)

For me, I think it's my political leanings.

But I hear you totally.

43% Barr
38% McCain
28% Obama

Can't say I am familiar with Barr, but the McCain above Obama but both pretty low seems right to me.

Obama agrees (and notes that his own mother was only 18 when he was born)

Obama says Palin's family off-limits

I don't think is going to be a big deal at all.

As someone else said, 17-year olds get knocked up all time. The only thing unusual about this is that there's no abortion.

Not a fan of Cindy McCain's outfit.

I agree that quiz was pretty odd. After I started looking at how they wanted the questions answered, I would have changed quite a few of my answers.

60% Cynthia McKinney
58% Hillary Clinton
55% Brian Moore and Barack Obama
53% Ralph Nader
45% Gloria La Riva
20% Chuck Baldwin
18% Bob Barr and John McCain

I guess it's pretty obvious where I lie..
/tk

You're a Communist? :D

(Grins ducks and runs)

1. Barack Obama 40%
2. Cynthia McKinney 38%
3. Gloria La Riva 35%
4. Brian Moore 33%
5. Ralph Nader 33%
6. Hillary Clinton 33%
7. Bob Barr 28%
8. John McCain 25%
9. Chuck Baldwin 18%

I am not sure what I am to make of this poll but whatever. I was leaning toward voting Obama anyway.

Uh-oh, NYT, how could you? Prepare to be eaten by your own.

eh, the only problem i have is that only Hillary had her middle name used too. Biden got a middle initial. All I ask for is consistency....this one got that wrong in my view. Should use all their middle names or none.

Hahah.

I'm surprised that I scored "higher" with Clinton than Obama. Though I preferred Clinton to McCain, I voted Obama. As much as I want a woman in the White House, I didn't want her.

/tk

mine, although the questions leave a lot to be desired:



60% Obama then Clinton