Well this certainly caught me by surprise. I'm sure many of you have heard that Sarah Palin, conservative running mate of John McCain, has admitted that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Bristol, Palin's daughter, is five months pregnant and says that she plans to marry the baby's father. There is a blog post on the New York Times website about the unexpected pregnancy, along with a statement from Governor Palin:"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows that she has our unconditional love and support."
I think this is an interesting twist in the campaign because it is difficult to anticipate how conservative supporters of McCain will react to this news. Additionally, I find this situation extremely ironic because Sarah Palin is a strong advocate of abstinence-only education, meaning teenagers are not taught about birth control or proper condom use, and instead are taught to remain virgins until marriage. However, it is clear that Bristol Palin did not stick to a vow of abstinence.
The blog entry in the New York Times is well-written and thorough in detail, and also provides some statements from voters regarding the recent news. However, all of the statements are from people who believe that Bristol's pregnancy is not a big deal. I would liked to have seen statements from those who claim that this news may affect their support for McCain and Palin. Moreover, the article did not touch on the irony surrounding Palin's personal beliefs about abstinence-only education... although there were many readers who commented on this aspect, saying such sarcastic things as, "Wow! Abstinence really does work!"
Overall, I feel that this election grows more interesting by the minute. I'm anxious to see how this news will play out amongst right-wing McCain supporters.
2 comments:
Personally, although I don't agree with many of Palin's politics, I think that because she is still supportive of her daughter's decision she could come of as endearing to many people. In the end of the day, her daughter is keeping her child, and the support shes giving her could ultimately make her seem warmer then her political background might suggest.
It's true - I was watching people debate this issue on CNN and many people were making the case that she is a warm and loving mother who handled this situation very well. However, I wonder how these same people would react if, for example, Bristol wasn't marrying her baby's father... or if she had an abortion. I think these same conservatives would be singing a much different tune. It's all circumstances. I don't believe for a second that her daughter's decision wasn't influenced. There is absolutely no way that Bristol would have been able to have an abortion, because it would have meant political death for her mom. I just think this whole situation is entirely too sugar-coated, and I don't buy that Bristol made this decision completely on her own.
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