Originally Posted By dshyates I agree that the press should leave her daughter alone, but did she realy think they would? I just think is odd that with all this "family value" stuff, she would blanently throw her daughter to the wolves of the nation press. Like being unmarried and pregnant at 17 isn't stressful enough, she decided to put her in the international madia spotlight. I understand personal ambition, but I would never do that to my kid for my career.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Well, it's a tough call. If she doesn't take the job, now her daughter spends the rest of her life feeling like she ruined everything. I don't think Palin should be restricted from serving as VP simply because she has a family. That's her business. I think she should stand or fall based on what sort of vision she has as a potential president. If it's lacking, that's plenty to focus on without mentioning the daughter.
Originally Posted By utahjosh My guess is that they decided together, Mom and Daughter. She's not 12, she's pretty close to being a legal adult.
Originally Posted By ecdc This is an important point. While conservatives are praising Palin for her outstanding parenting, it's absolutely valid to question the kind of judgment that allows a parent to place their daughter so squarely in the spotlight. And now we have a situation where the father of her baby is all over the media as well. He sounds like most high school jocks - stupid and immature. But now he's being skewered for it while the rest of us mercifully avoided that kind of attention at that age. This isn't the 1930s; most parents don't disown their children for being pregnant or getting someone pregnant. They try and be as supportive as they can. It's no shock that Palin is doing this. Good for her, but parents all over America are doing the same thing. What's not good for her, is putting her career before her daughter's well being. She could've said no, of course, to McCain's offer. She chose not to, and this is the result.
Originally Posted By dshyates "If she doesn't take the job, now her daughter spends the rest of her life feeling like she ruined everything." I would never tell my daughter that I passed on the job to protect her. That's part of protecting her.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>My guess is that they decided together, Mom and Daughter.<< I'd like to believe that. And maybe that's the case. But so far what I've seen of Sarah Palin I wouldn't be surprised if she made this decision without discussing this situation with her daughter. In fact, it just came out today that the first interview the McCain campaign had with Palin over the VP slot was the day before she was offered it. That certainly suggests a pretty rushed process.
Originally Posted By PJ82858 The daughter and the boyfriend did this while the mother was already in the public eye. Now they have to pay the consequences. Tough? yes. Welcome to the grown up real world.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>What's not good for her, is putting her career before her daughter's well being. She could've said no, of course, to McCain's offer. She chose not to, and this is the result.<< I don't want to nominate myself as president of the Sarah Palin Protection Society, but honestly, every public personality drags their family into the spotlight with them like it or not. Look at what Chelsea Clinton had to endure in public. (And remarks about her looks by Sen. McCain in a tasteless joke, no less.) Should Bill Clinton not have been president? I think it's a very slippery slope when we start saying that women with children should be judged differently than men in similar situations. It starts getting into Dr. Laura territory very quickly -- declaring women shouldn't have careers with young children at home.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy At least Bristol Palin doesn't have to suffer through the "ugly" jokes like Chelsea Clinton did. You know, politicians like John McCain cracking jokes about her being the daughter of Janet Reno? Remember that? Or Rush Limbaugh joking that Chelsea was the the "White House dog?" I feel sorry for Bristol, but the cruel jokes made by Republican politicians and commentators about Chelsea Clinton were completely unwarranted and distasteful. They say that family members should be "off limits," but they never practiced what they preached before this came up.
Originally Posted By utahjosh <The daughter and the boyfriend did this while the mother was already in the public eye. Now they have to pay the consequences. Tough? yes. Welcome to the grown up real world.> I really can't argue with this, either. However, I do not support the trashy and supposedly-not-trashy media outlets focusing on these kids.
Originally Posted By ecdc I agree, 2oony. I'm not saying no one, mothers or fathers, shouldn't be in the public eye. And of course, this whole situation only exists because of our 24/7 media culture. We can question whether the information about Palin's daughter even ought to be news. But I'm looking more at the reality of *this* particular situation. Sarah Palin was offered the VP slot in a very rushed process. She ought to know what that entails and how intense the media scrutiny has been surrounding this election cycle. Right or wrong, she should have known that her daughter's pregnancy would be covered and become an issue. We can debate whether or not she should've turned down the VP slot based on that. My argument is rather with the conservatives who are gushing over Sarah Palin's parenting. They've been far less kind to parents who do it everyday in this country without any kind of attention, and certainly no help from Republicans who pass tax breaks for the rich. and one could certainly argue that thrusting your pregnant daughter into the spotlight isn't exactly great parenting. (And Chelsea Clinton's unfortunate adolescence is a very different thing than a pregnant girl.)
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>My argument is rather with the conservatives who are gushing over Sarah Palin's parenting.<< I agree with that. She's relatively unknown, and few are in a position to be gushing -- or condemning -- her parenting skills at this point. The whole thing plays into the same old stereotypes we have with women. They can be a mom, or a career person, but not both. I think the gushing is as phony as a $3 bill, especially because it was instantaneous. But by the same token, I'd rather the debate focus on her nutty far-religious-right politics and hypocrisy over "pork" spending, rather than her parenting skills. (See what a fair guy I am? LOL!)
Originally Posted By ecdc >>But by the same token, I'd rather the debate focus on her nutty far-religious-right politics and hypocrisy over "pork" spending, rather than her parenting skills. (See what a fair guy I am? LOL!)<< LOL. Fair enough. I suppose I'm pre-disposed to be more critical of Sarah Palin just for those reasons. Take away the conservative gushing and what I know about her atittudes towards teenage sexuality, and I'm not saying word one about Bristol. And even with that, in the end I do really hope for the best for Bristol. I've had two cousins now who got pregnant at a young age before they were married, and I wouldn't wish the struggle on anyone.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 I agree but being pretty much their entire stand is based on family values I have problems with her decision.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Yeah, that whole "Family Values" thing is mighty subjective. The GOP has always played fast and loose with the term.
Originally Posted By dshyates I am not saying this because she is a women. I'm a divorced Dad, who doesn't even have full time custody and every career decision I make is based around how it will effect the my kids. Her decision doesn't seem to be very "kids first" oriented. I admit that its truely "a once in a lifetime" oppertunity that would be hard to pass on. But being Gov. I would imagine they are doing OK. So it seems to be an unnecessary hardship on the 17 year old. But who knows, maybe they discussed it through, and as a family they came to this conclusion. It just goes against my parental instict to expose my kid to that kind of stress for my career. I am sure she knows she has made a monumental mistake, but this seems to me to be rubbing her nose in it.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 I have to wonder were these lovebirds headed for matrimony before the VP bid? Cause talk about playing against the odds of that lasting. <sigh>
Originally Posted By mawnck I don't see how being an unmarried 17-year-old whose mom is running for VP is all that much worse than being an unmarried 17-year-old whose mom is the Governor of Alaska. It still would have been a big whoop-de-doo in her neck of the woods, so to speak.
