Skins feels sorry

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6880861

Oh my.

Skinner  ADMIN  (1000+ posts) Tue Sep-02-08 11:59 AM
Original message

I feel sorry for Bristol Palin.   

You can't choose your parents. If Bristol Palin weren't the daughter of the presumptive nominee for vice president of the United States, none of us would have ever heard of her. She would have been just another unplanned teen pregnancy -- which is unfortunate, but certainly not fodder for 24-hour cable news or political online chat.

In my previous professional life I was a political campaign researcher -- in other words, I was the guy who dug around in courthouses and libraries collecting information about our opponents. It would be nice if we lived in a political culture in which that type of work was unnecessary, but we do not. The sad truth is that people claim to hate negative political attacks, but then vote based on the negative information provided to them. Our campaigns are a sort-of "negative attack arms race," in which neither candidate can afford to unilaterally disarm.

Sometimes, it can be ugly work. But (believe it or not) there actually are standards. One important rule is that families are off limits -- especially children. But there are exceptions. The most important exception is that if the opposing candidate chooses to use a family member to advance their campaign (beyond simply having that person appear in photo-ops and campaign events) then that family member is fair game. The classic example from recent history is when Bill Clinton campaigned for president in 1992 and promised to give his wife a prominent role in his administration. That gave the Republicans an opening to attack Hillary Clinton. After all, if she was going to act as a sort-of co-president, didn't the voters have a right to know what sort of co-president she was going to be?

Bristol Palin is not going to have any high-level job in a McCain administration, even in the unlikely event that McCain actually wins in November. By any standard, she should be off-limits.

If only it were that easy.

Unfortunately for Bristol Palin, the country faces an unusual set of circumstances which makes it unlikely that she would be completely spared from the harsh media spotlight. I'm not saying it's right. But I am saying it is almost inevitable.

I blame John McCain. And I blame Bristol Palin's parents.

By now it has become obvious that the McCain campaign made a hasty choice for their vice presidential candidate, and did not fully vet Bristol Palin's mother, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. I would hope that in this day and age, the fact that any candidate might have a pregnant teenager would not disqualify that person from higher office. But sadly, it is still seen as something that is relevant to one's fitness to serve, and is virtually guaranteed to start a media feeding frenzy. If the McCain campaign did know about Bristol Palin's pregnancy -- a big if -- then they should have been better prepared to deal with the issue when it came up. They should have had a plan.

And yes, I blame her parents. It has been said -- and rightly so -- that Governor Palin would not have had to field questions about the appropriateness of running for higher office with a newborn baby if she were a man. (To be clear, I am referring to the birth of the Governor's son.) I think that is probably true. But I am not so sure that a male candidate would have been spared questions about a pregnant teenage child. Particularly if that male candidate were a conservative Christian advocate of so-called "family values."

Before I continue, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a work-at-home father. My wife is the primary breadwinner for our family, and works outside the home during the week. That makes me the primary caregiver for our two children. I understand that discussion of anyone's family choices can easily be interpreted as sexist, and I also understand that family choices are usually irrelevant to one's fitness to serve in public office. But I do feel that my personal experience as a work-at-home father and primary caregiver for my children does at least give me the ability to say what I would do if I were in the same situation as Todd and Sarah Palin find themselves. If I were offered an opportunity to serve as a vice presidential candidate when my teenage child (son or daughter) was facing an unplanned pregnancy, I hope that I would decline. Facing an unplanned teen pregnancy is difficult enough. It seems cruel to make your child do so under the intense scrutiny of a presidential campaign.

But who knows? Perhaps Governor Palin thoroughly discussed the issue with her daughter before she accepted the vice presidential position, and her daughter understood what was likely to happen, and her daughter insisted that her mother take it. Maybe Bristol Palin is a strong, self-confident young woman who can thrive in a situation like this. For her sake, I hope that she is.

I think if Governor Palin were not such a complete unknown, then her daughter's pregnancy would not have been such a big deal. But I think because John McCain plucked her out of almost complete obscurity, and because she did not possess a well-known record of achievement, the media -- and voters -- are grasping at anything right now to fill in the blanks.

So, I wish all the best to Bristol Palin. I hope that she gets all the support she needs during this difficult time. And I hope that she can regain her privacy sometime soon. I am a little embarrassed and ashamed that I have been following all the details of the Palin family as they trickle out into the media, so I am not completely blameless here either.

But I want you to know that I am rooting for you, Bristol Palin, and I hope everything turns out okay for you. (Even if I am not rooting for your mother to become the next vice president.)

It's the usual primitive ass-kissing, until this:

mtnsnake  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Tue Sep-02-08 12:35 PM
Response to Original message

20. So you think Bill's comments about Hillary during his campaign are relevant to Bristol Palin?
   
Other than sticking a little dig into the Clintons, I don't understand how the comments Bill made about Hillary during his campaign had anything to do with the Palin/Bristol situation of today. Bill was making the point back then that he didn't expect Hillary to sit at home baking cookies for him. As it turns out, he did just fine, and so did she. Republicans didn't attack Hillary because of what Bill said about giving her a role. They attacked her because strong, intelligent women are a threat to them.

Skinner  ADMIN  (1000+ posts) Tue Sep-02-08 12:37 PM
Response to Reply #20

23. The primaries are over.   

Give it a rest.

Please.

abernste  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Tue Sep-02-08 12:37 PM
Response to Original message

22. But Skinner, I thought we were supposed to be a "hateful leftist blog"?

Not to worry; you are.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

"If only her mean ol' parents had given her a condom and the keys to the pick-up or told her to have an abortion we could rally behind this poor waif!" 

Whatever.

Go drink your own urine.

[TheSarge]

Be careful Mr. Allen.

You make one misstep with that den of thieves you herd over there and it will be YOUR wife and YOUR daughter they are saying the same things about.

How can you look at your own child and then let those  run around flinging poo on the walls like monkey's at the zoo?

[Wretched Excess]

so, $kammer is a mr. mom?  huh.  imagine that.

[tuolumnejim]

Be careful Mr. Allen.

You make one misstep with that den of thieves you herd over there and it will be YOUR wife and YOUR daughter they are saying the same things about.

How can you look at your own child and then let those  run around flinging poo on the walls like monkey's at the zoo?

Because it's a Republicans daughter, if anything about Mr. Allen is true, it's that he's a POS.

[DixieBelle]

McCain starting seriously talking to Palin in Feburary of this year. Bristol is what? 5 months pregnant? So she conceived after the intial vetting process began and most likely didn't find out/tell her parents until it was well under way. There was time for Palin to inform McCain and for him to change his mind.

McCain not only took his time vetting Palin, he had ample opportunity to replace her had he felt the need to do so for any reason. Clearly based on the timeline and reports from the McCain camp, they knew about the daughter and decided it didn't matter. Much to DU's dismay.

[USA4ME]

Skinner  ADMIN

I blame John McCain. And I blame Bristol Palin's parents.

As is typical, you're wrong.  You want blame, go look in the mirror.  As soon as any threads on your website started showing up even suggesting Palin's daughter had a child and Palin covered for it by claiming the child as her own, or that she should have aborted the baby when she knew it was Down's, or that Plain shouldn't run because her daughter is pregnant, you should have cut it off at the neck immediately and perm banned anyone who even mentioned it anymore.

But, that would require you to be human.

You're not even a man.  And I regret I can't say these things to your face so you can feel the full effect of my disgust of you.

.

[delilahmused]

mtnsnake  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Tue Sep-02-08 12:35 PM
Response to Original message

20. So you think Bill's comments about Hillary during his campaign are relevant to Bristol Palin?
   
Other than sticking a little dig into the Clintons, I don't understand how the comments Bill made about Hillary during his campaign had anything to do with the Palin/Bristol situation of today. Bill was making the point back then that he didn't expect Hillary to sit at home baking cookies for him. As it turns out, he did just fine, and so did she. Republicans didn't attack Hillary because of what Bill said about giving her a role. They attacked her because strong, intelligent women are a threat to them.

You just can't make this shit up! It seems they're the ones afraid of strong, intelligent women, otherwise they wouldn't be desperately flailing around trying to find anything that will stick. Fact is, Sarah Palin is EVERYTHING feminists have told women they can be...all without the coattails "feminists" like Hillary Clinton had to cling to. There isn't a NORMAL mother in America that can't identify with and admire Sarah Palin. This WILL backfire on them...Lord I hope they keep this up.

Cindie

[Carl]

Stop trying to fool everyone Skins,you could have put an end to the vile and demented crap that has spewed from your little sewer 4 days ago but you didn`t.

Why?
My guess is you wanted to wait to see if even a vestige of the insanity would somehow turn out to be true and then you could proclaim your spawn had it first.

Now that it is obvious the train has left the station and with it went a chance for fame and more importantly new (donating) members you come out with this statement.

If you meant it you could have done it Friday so take your pious attempt to cover up what your site really is and wallow in the sewage that engulfs you.