Palin pregnancy takes focus off McCain campaign
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It’s been an eventful week for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
The little-known politician took the national stage after presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain chose her to be his running mate and subsequently endured a media storm rarely seen outside the Lohan family.
For any casual observer, the foremost story in this sordid affair was the revelation that Palin’s unmarried teenage daughter is pregnant. After the McCain campaign released the news, story after story about how this would affect the presidential race flooded newscasts and the front pages of major newspapers.
Given the country’s voracious appetite for any minutia of a celebrity’s dirty laundry, it’s unsurprising the media has chosen to mainly focus on this one item. Unsurprising, but unfortunate.
The fact remains that it was Palin’s daughter and not Palin who is ultimately responsible for her current state, regardless of upbringing. For the media to focus on an event Palin did not control while ignoring other, more troubling issues — such as charges that Palin abused her power as governor — is shortsighted and a disservice to the people they’re trying to inform.
The nature of the modern news cycle would seem to indicate that in a week all the news about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy gets forgotten when a new mini-controversy erupts, leaving only a wake of uniformed voters and wasted time.
When it comes to Palin, what the media really should be focusing on is what the selection says about McCain. The choice of running mate is one of the most important decisions a candidate can make, and it can say several things about exactly how a candidate might govern and how they think.
Current news reports seem to indicate the choice to pick Palin was one made at the very last minute, with not a lot of information on hand. Reports from various news sources indicate McCain offered the position to Palin shortly after meeting with her for the first time and campaign operatives didn’t interview many Alaskan politicians who have daily dealings with Palin — possibly in order to keep the choice a secret as long as possible.
To some, this may reinforce the impression that McCain doesn’t hesitate when it comes to a major decision and that he is ready to take a chance when one is warranted. Unquestionably, Palin has solid conservative credentials, and her warm reception by the Republican base would seem to reinforce that it was a solid decision.
To others, it’s a sign that McCain is prone to making reckless and uninformed choices. Critics point to the glut of negative press as a clear sign that a more careful vetting process for Palin would have been of far greater value than the initial burst of excitement that came with a truly surprise pick.
Regardless of which side of the political fence one sits on, it’s important to remember that it’s McCain and not Palin who is running for president, and to view the pick in that light.
One needs to judge the situation on the issues that truly matter and not what’s the most scandalous gossip.
Commentary
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MJ
(09/03/08 10:18pm)Report
So .. focus on a Harvard Law phony and 36-year Senate talker-loser? No thanks.
These party conventions must be boosting marijuana sales. To forget.
Red Cedar PM
(09/04/08 5:45am)Report
I don’t give a rat’s ass about the vice president, since they don’t do anything. McCain only picked her for the female vote, just like Obama picked Biden just so he could win PA. If McCain dies his entire cabinet will still be in place, who are the people actually doing everything anyway. However, I do think it’s pretty funny how some groups have painted Obama as wanting to change everything in Washington and that he is not an “insider” like McCain. This seems at least a little hypocritical to say that and then rail on Palin for not having experience in the federal government.
One thing I do give a rat’s ass about (and you should too) are high US corporate income taxes, which are killing our competitiveness and increasing the price of goods and services to Joe Consumer. If you look read the tax foundation website (they are non-partisan, unlike the State News) http://www.taxfoundation.org/competeusa/ they have a lot of good information on why this is so important. McCain is going to lower the corporate tax rate to 25% http://www.johnmccain.com/Issues/JobsforAmerica/taxes.htm. Obama’s offers to do nothing about the high corporate rate, at least nothing he has on his website http://www.barackobama.com/issues/fiscal/#fair-tax. I am waiting to see the debates to see if he says anything about it but I am not holding my breath.
It would be nice to see a media source have a good editorial that lays out some important ACTUAL ISSUES OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Dan
(09/04/08 7:08am)Report
Palin pregnancy takes focus off McCain campaign
The left-wing media accomplished their mission, didn’t they? Too bad it involved destroying a 17-year old girl…
David
(09/04/08 8:10am)Report
Dan, in what way has a 17-year old girl been destroyed?
Mark
(09/04/08 8:54am)Report
Given the country’s voracious appetite for any minutia of a celebrity’s dirty laundry, it’s unsurprising the media has chosen to mainly focus on this one item. Unsurprising, but unfortunate.
And your publishing of this article is ok, why? I guess we can call this article “Unsurprising, but unfortunate.”
David
(09/04/08 9:19am)Report
While I agree with the general argument of this editorial—that we should focus on issues rather than media circuses—I also think the editorial has serious flaws.
First, by asserting that it is Bristol Palin and not her mother who is ultimately responsible for her “current state” (i.e., being an unwed but pregnant teenager), the editorial exposes a flaw in Republican policies regarding sex education, reproductive choice, and the spread of STDs. There is empirical evidence (of which, Bristols pregnancy is a part) that “abstinence only” policies advocated by Republicans are ineffective.
Second, the article urges the reader to remember that it is John McCain and not Sarah Palin who is running for President, as if to diminish the importance of the Vice President, yet ignoring the fact that the Vice President must be qualified to assume the Presidency if need-be.
Joe
(09/04/08 9:29am)Report
Not to mention that McCain’s Vice President must be more ready than most, seeing as McCain is 72, a former POW (takes a toll on one’s health), and has a history of skin cancer, the most recent in 2000 and 2002.
Mr. Pants
(09/04/08 9:49am)Report
Dan from above – “The left-wing media accomplished their mission, didn’t they? Too bad it involved destroying a 17-year old girl…”
Dan from here – “Liberals hate talking about abstinence. They won’t consider it—they ignore it altogether. Abstinence deals with something with virtue, morality and common sense, which are ultimately linked to something called God. And communists/liberals/socialists hate this thing called God, because God is the answer to life’s problems, not Planned Parenthood, not Obama, and certainly not eco-friendly carbon-free coffee cups.”
So since Bristol Palin ignored abstinence, she also hates God, right? Or do you just ignore ideological consistency in favor of political expedience? (Yes, I know there is a chance that these are two different Dans, but I read enough on here to tell people apart, so I doubt it.)
Mike
(09/04/08 10:26am)Report
Obama has more risk of dying in office than McCain if he continues to smoke the cowboy killers.
Tim
(09/04/08 11:04am)Report
Obama has more risk of dying in office than McCain if he continues to smoke the cowboy killers.
So it’s a good thing he picked someone who would be qualified to take over the presidency if need be.
As opposed to choosing someone in order to appeal to women.
David
(09/04/08 11:49am)Report
Mike wrote, “Obama has more risk of dying in office than McCain if he continues to smoke the cowboy killers.”
What EXACTLY are you referring to?
Totally agree
(09/04/08 1:22pm)Report
I completely agree that the media’s focus on Sarah Palin’s pregnant teen daughter is unfortunate.
It is also unfortunate that the State News chose to continue to perpetuate this conversation by publishing an op-ed on the unfortunate-ness of the media’s coverage of Sarah Palin’s underage teen daughter’s pregnancy.
It is also unfortunate that I am continuing to add fuel to this discussion by posting a comment about my feelings of the unfortunate nature of the State News’ op-ed on the media’s unfortunate focus on Sarah palin pregnant underage teen daughter.
It will be even more unfortunate if someone finds unfortunate my comment about the state news’ unfortunate op-ed regarding the unfortunate media coverage of Sarah Palin’s pregnant underage teen daughter.
Excuse me, I’m getting a bit dizzy and must lie down now…
Rubberband Man
(09/04/08 2:12pm)Report
the risk of death between is equal if you follow the liberals’ logic:
if McCain may die from old age or sickness, then obama may be killed by a nut b/c he’s black. the odds are high for either one by the liberal standard.
i mean give me a break about McCain dying in office. that happened ONCE in 200 hundred years. the odds are against it.
David
(09/04/08 2:28pm)Report
Anyone have the statistics on life expectancy over a 4 year period for a 72 year-old cancer patient, versus the probability of a politician being killed in office? I don’t have them either, but I bet the former is much higher.
Chris
(09/04/08 2:44pm)Report
The Republican Party has championed themselves as the “moral” [sic] party for YEARS. They have repeatedly looked down on unwed teenage mothers… apparently unless it happens to one of their own. Just like Nancy Reagan suddenly became a proponent of stem cell research because her husband had alzheimer’s. They have repeatedly stated that abstinence-only sex education should be the only option. This opens up Sarah Palin to criticism. PERIOD. It sucks that her daughter is put in this situation. But Palin’s views on sex education make the fact that she has a pregnant teen open for criticism and for being called a hypocrite. If she doesn’t want her daughter to deal with all of this, she shouldn’t be running.
The same people that push abstinence only sex education are trying to spin it this the Republicans’ favor. Bristol is being lauded for supposedly making the decision to keep the baby… because she’s the ONLY teenage mother to go through with it EVER, of course (I wonder why they weren’t lauding Jamie Lynn Spears)… and for “choosing” to marry the father of her unborn child.
Sarah Palin is being lauded for her excellent parenting in sticking to her pro-life virtues. And NO major player in her party is calling her out for supporting abstinence-only sex education but failing to teach her own kid about it.
Other teenage mothers and their babies aren’t so lucky. The right wingers who crucify ghetto mothers and resent WIC and welfare assistance and whose candidate has voted against aid to teen mothers are now spinning the Palin pregnancy. The Palins are dealing with the situation in a “Christian” way. The Palins aren’t special. Families do this every day. Pregnant teens have their babies and the same people who don’t want them to have proper education, condoms, or birth control pills don’t want them to have abortions or aid for the children either.
Hypocrisy at its finest. The people defending this and not being critical would rather save face than hold themselves to past standards, however backwards those past standards may be.
What Bristol Palin is about to go through SUCKS, and her mother being on the national political stage will not help matters. I will not say that Sarah Palin is unqualified to be vice president. But I will say that she is a damn HYPOCRITE if I’ve ever seen one, and I believe she is putting political ambition before her infant with Down syndrome and her pregnant teenage daughter, and is allowing her to be exploited for her and her party’s own political gain.
And NOBODY should be praising her for that. Period.
Well Said!
(09/04/08 4:55pm)Report
Thank you Chris! I completely agree.
LWS
(09/04/08 5:21pm)Report
Who else thinks Bristol … I mean Sarah Palin’s baby Trig is going to die of “complications due to Down’s Syndrome” sometime around Halloween, thus carrying McCain into the White House on a wave of sympathy?
…
No one? Yeah, me neither…
Red Cedar PM
(09/05/08 9:47am)Report
Rubberband Man: “i mean give me a break about McCain dying in office. that happened ONCE in 200 hundred years. the odds are against it. “
William Henry Harrison and FDR died in office from natural causes, so that’s two if you’re talking about dying naturally. Kennedy, McKinley, Garfield, and Lincoln have been assassinated, so really that is six in 200 years, bud. Nixon resigned, but his elected VP (Agnew) also resigned, so I wouldn’t even count that one.
Like I said above though, even if McCain dies he will still have his entire cabinet in place who is going to have plenty of good advice and are really going to be the decision makers, so it doesn’t really matter who the VP pick is, and 6 in 200 years is not all that much.
kage
(09/05/08 1:23pm)Report
Leave the kid alone.
Even Obama’s people said it.