Many voters deem Palin pregnancy a private matter
Published Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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Stumble It!Rebecca Horvath was an undecided voter before the news broke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her 17-year-old unmarried daughter's pregnancy.
The Tennessee mother of two is exactly the kind of voter who will decide this presidential election. And the news has not changed her views one iota.
"This has nothing to do with the campaign," says Horvath, 32, who as both a woman and a self-described Reagan Democrat is in two groups being wooed in this fiercely contested race. "That's been my thought from the beginning. Campaign issues are health care, education, the Iraq war - not a candidate's daughter being pregnant."
Just as Sen. John McCain's surprise choice of Palin made headlines a few days earlier, the revelation of her daughter's pregnancy has sent shock waves across the political landscape - and spawned countless Web references to "Juno from Juneau," a play on the name of last year's popular movie about a pregnant teen.
But what do voters really think? Will the pregnancy reflect negatively on Palin or on the man who chose her? Or will Palin's predicament instead humanize her and draw some sympathy votes?
Interviews across the country by The Associated Press on Tuesday found many said it should be a private matter. Yet some of these same people wondered whether Palin could be an effective vice president and deal with the obligations of parenting both her own and her children's children.
Back when teen star Jamie Lynn Spears revealed she was pregnant at 16, chatter centered on her mother - more famous for her older daughter, Britney - and whether she was somehow to blame.
But in Palin's case, voters of all political stripes expressed the view that parental guidance only goes so far.
"As a parent, you cannot be totally responsible for your child," noted Kurt Farrell, a 71-year-old Atlanta resident. "This is not a crime, and it doesn't mean she did not do her job. You can't guide your child 100 percent."
The story, he said, is simply "not our business."
Farrell, who is originally from Trinidad and is a staunch Barack Obama supporter, added he was certain Obama wouldn't use Palin's personal situation to gain political leverage, and indeed Obama has said forcefully that he believes candidates' children are off limits.
But one supporter of the Illinois senator felt the information was fair game. "It gives you insight about her," said Joanell Williams, a 37-year-old high school teacher from Hahnville, La., who fled Hurricane Gustav and was visiting relatives in Atlanta.
"What I keep asking myself is, if you can't take care of your own household, how can you take care of the nation?" said Williams. "If she is so strong on conservative values why wasn't she able to get that through at home? My mother raised seven daughters ... None of us came home pregnant."
Others expressed the view that the pregnancy says more about McCain than Palin. Though his campaign says he knew about the pregnancy beforehand, questions persist about how thoroughly McCain vetted the candidate and how much interaction they had before he announced the surprise selection last Friday.
And the question is an important one, says political scholar Steven Cohen, because the choice of a running mate is a candidate's first major presidential decision.
Whereas Obama appeared to take the long road to selecting a VP, naming a committee that included Caroline Kennedy, McCain by contrast "appears like he was a student cramming at the last minute for an exam," said Cohen, a professor of public administration at Columbia University.
Wendell Eubanks, a 46-year-old pastor from Chicago, had his doubts about Palin. "If I'm running for office, I have to lead by example," said Eubanks, a Democrat who has a Sunday gospel show on the radio. "How can you lead the country, if you can't lead your own family?"
Others argued that while Palin's problems show she's a mother with challenges like anyone else, she still has to answer for her views on sex education. She has said she opposes funding for such programs.
"No sex education in the classroom has brought results in unwanted pregnancies," said Michael Allen, a 54-year-old epidemiologist in Harrisburg, Pa., who supports Obama. As for McCain, Allen said, the episode shows that he "made a political decision without thinking much about the actual consequences."
There was also the question of whether Palin, a mother of five, should consider taking on a job like vice president given two current demands on her as a mother: a baby with Down syndrome, and a teenage daughter soon to give birth.
Claire Dent, a housewife from Marietta, Ga., said that as an opponent of abortion rights, she applauded Bristol Palin's decision to keep her baby. But she was "a little squeamish," nonetheless, at the Alaska governor seeking the vice presidency.
"Only she knows what she's capable of," said Dent, 32, a Republican. "I just know that it wouldn't be something I would do."
One feeling seemed unanimous among voters interviewed: Sympathy for Bristol Palin herself, who surely didn't seek the kind of publicity she's being subjected to.
"If I were her ... I wouldn't want to be used as an example of how people might see my mother," said Leslie Jacobs, 20, a student in the Dayton, Ohio, suburb of Oakwood who is undecided in the race. "She's not the one who is running with John McCain."
Chicagoan Jean Kohn, a self-described "proud black Republican," said that while Bristol Palin's pregnancy should have no place in the election, her mother's honesty was admirable - a sentiment that was not purely Republican.
"I think just the fact that she's supporting her daughter in her decision is admirable and commendable," said Obama supporter Damita Coats, 39, a mother of two young children in Bowie, Md.
In downtown Los Angeles, accountant Jacqueline Benyamini said she was much more concerned with the problems of unemployment, terrorism and homelessness than a personal issue with a candidate's child.
"I couldn't care less about their personal lives," said the 40-year-old mother of two, an independent leaning toward McCain. "Everyone has baggage." With her own boys, ages 7 and 10, she said, "I'm hoping I'll teach them all the right values of being good."
But, Benyamini added: "You can't put a leash on your kids forever."
Community Discussion
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It is an unfortunate part of parenting that we CANNOT keep them(our kids) under lock and key their entire teen years. It is unfortunate that Bristol's pregnancy is being smeared like peanut butter across a campaign for her mom's vice presidency. EVERY family has something in their closets.....it undermines Obama's campaign with the continuation of smear that is being allowed.
I'm not an Obama supporter, but I think his staunch statement that this is a private family matter and his campaign will not exploit it says that he's not behind the crazy frenzy.
What we're dealing with here is a news media that is always looking for the next sensational sotry it can print. Basically, I don't consider this type of information as "news", but rather it's actually nothing but gossip. It's printed or broadcast with the express purpose of getting attention and making money.
While I'd love to blame the news media, the fact is it's really not their fault. It's the publics fault for being so stupidly enamored with fame, power, money & celebrity. If the public wasn't paying for this type of drivel, the news media wouldn't be chasing after it. It's all rather sad and disgusting.
My Lord IUR you are so hateful, what is the matter with you? "We need to destroy her entire family." I can't even finish that statement it is so vial. You've been spitting hate all over Palin all day, take a Pamprin and calm down.
check back soon, rose. the above is an impersonator. the posts will be removed completely, as they have before.
I strongly believe that this is not news. It is only trash that is spewing from idiots and fools. What I do feel I have to comment on is that in this instance, everyone (not just this thread, but every thread that mentions the young Palin's pregnancy) is harping about how children cannot be controlled 24/7 and that kids will do what they want. However - read the threads about the gang violence and all you see is that "Parents have to control their children". It strikes me as humorous.
All in all, I support Governor Palin and wish her and her family all the luck in the world. I think with the media's (including the DNM) biased approach to this election, they're going to need it.
Whoever wrote about having "read the books about child raising", your an idoit! Can't believe you'd be offended by a redneck image after a comment like yours.
I question that Gov. Palin would willingly put her daughter in this position of scrutiny when she decided to run. YeeGads...what a thing to do to your pregnant 17 year old!! She has too many family obligations that are not being addressed and dealt with to run, in addition to total lack of knowledge of international issues and politics.
I totally disagree. When you step willingly into the national political spotlight -- and then announce to the world, at the Republican National Convention nonetheless, that your 17-year-old daughter is pregnant and unmarried and in high school -- you open yourself up for criticism.
Folks-
I'm sure you've figured out that someone has been posting using a similar-looking username. The imposter's posts get removed completely. Your emails are a different story. I've only emailed you, flower, once tonight. Everything else is the work of the impostor...I'm so flattered.
BTW, the REAL IUR has raised children. I know what I'm talking about.
I hope everyone keeps a very important and basic fact in mind throughout this issue of Bristol's pregnancy: the news of it was made public by Sarah Palin and done so to protect her against what she considered a threat to her public image. I doubt any significant number of people took seriously the idea Sarah Palin had falsified her pregnancy to protect her daughter. And, frankly, had she either ignored the whole thing or just issued a very plain "You're nuts!" likely it would have blown over.
Instead she took what should have been a very private family matter and made it internationally known solely to benefit herself. I cannot imagine what Bristol must be going through right now dealing with the scope of play the announcement has had throughout the world but quite frankly she has no one to thank for that but her own mother. It was such a self-serving act of selfishness that McCain, if he had any real backbone, should seriously consider dropping Palin from the ticket.
Sarah has a husband who is totally committed to his family. Why does everyone think only the mom can take care of the children. I admit, I was a stay at home mom with 4 children, but my husband was the best hands on dad and still is, even though all of our children are adults now. Todd will stay home and take care of his family and they have grandparents, aunts and uncles who are all involved in their lives!!
I say GO Sarah!!! You can do it!!!
If the argument is that one must nail down their own family before attempting to lead others then where does that leave Hilary?
Are we no better than the average audience at a Gery Springer show?
It is quite obvious that Palin was not vetted by McCain operatives in advance of the senator's announcement picking her as his running mate. What on earth were they thinking?! I would not be at all surprised if McCain cuts his losses by dropping her early tomorrow and selecting a qualified candidate. Senator Olympia Snowe, for instance, would have been a logical choice, with many years of executive and foreign policy experience.
Let's all take a step back and get a reality check real fast... ALL OF OUR FAMILIES ARE DYSFUNCTIONAL IN SOME WAY!!! No family on the face of this earth are perfect. 85% of us come from broken homes, whether our parents divorced while we were young or maybe when we had families of our own. We all have those realitives that may not live by our morals. And I will come right out and say it, just because females are made to bear children doesn't mean we are hardwired to be the perfect parent or even throw ourselves into it 24/7, 365. I have three of my own who are my light and my world, but I am not a good full time, all the time, mom. I have to have that job that gets me away from the screaming and the diapers to collect my sanity. Palin has that. I, in no way, am saying she is not a fit parent. She takes what she has and works with it. She has never claimed to be perfect, or even a perfect parent. But I think she is the perfect example of the American families of today. It should say it for itself that her daughter was even close enough to her parents to come out and tell them and ask for their support. Palin gives hope to us who think we can't balance a career and family in one lifetime. And if you think her personal life will affect the way she helps run the country, I ask, does your personal life intercept with your job that brings home a paycheck? That is what this is, a job and she is more than capable of separating the two. She has done up until now and she basically released the statement to protect her family before more rumors stirred up. So to everyone who thinks they have the perfect, cookie-cutter family, I dare you to come out and show yourselves. You never know what skeletons you may have in your closet....
This isn't really a story that won't go away for a bias newspaper like this that likes keeping the stew brewing for as long as they can over just about anything and everything that's not Obama all the time. I used to watch MSNBC till it also became bias doesn't leave much chose for me now FOX (half them need Vicodine) I just watch Glenn Beck now. But you can tell what the stories really about after the first two sentences now. Then take the rest as propaganda. Or a liberal point of view.
Nightshade, every media outlet in the nation is running these stories, not just the DNM.
The Newsminer a biased newspaper? yep. A strong bias for everything conservative and Republican maybe. LOL!
Look, Palin made her bed by thrusting her family in the limelight. Anyone see a photo of her in the news during the first day after her announcement WITHOUT her smiling family surrounding her? Now she can sleep in it. you want us to think of your family when we think of you, Governor? Well, we are.
Yeah I know. I'm still happy for Palin. And know ever networks trying hard to put pressure on it.
I just don't trust the Republicans anymore with their control of our Sarah. The last time they were in charged, we are still paying (13) billion dollars a week on Iraq, which is putting dangerous economy set back for the United States in future to come.
I think that this is a private family matter too. However, when a candidate for public office thinks that sex education is not part of education and when a candidate wants to legislate morals for the rest of us then i have an issue with Ms. Palin. Leave the daughter alone but the issue of legislating fundamental right wing values has no place in the great scheme of being personally free.
I agree it should be a private family matter and if I remember correctly Sarah asked that the media respect her family's privacy. But then the boyfriend of her daughter is flown to the convention? Actions speak louder than words.
Wonder why when Al Gore's kid got arrested for drugs the media kept it pretty low key. Of course Obama can say keep it as a family matter, he knows the liberal media and bloggers will do the dirty work for him. If anything, it just goes to show that the media is desperate for Hollywood type nonsense, after all they lost Britany. Politics when the media sticks to political issues is just to boring for many readers.
The only question that I have is would her family even be an issue if she was a male candidate? In doubt that this would have been an issue or have been blown up by the press into as large of an issue as it has been. I think it would personally be impossible to find a candidate without some skeletons in there closets since everyone makes mistakes (we are human it goes with the territory). Instead of focusing on the negative personal issues in Sarah Palins life I think we should focus on the issues at stake in this campaign.
"There was also the question of whether Palin, a mother of five, should consider taking on a job like vice president given two current demands on her as a mother: a baby with Down syndrome, and a teenage daughter soon to give birth."
If she was male this wouldn't be an issue. Insert the word "father" in place of "mother" and that never would've been written. People don't ask if a father's house is in order before they run for office.
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