http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/514084.html
The Republican presidential campaign is marketing Gov. Sarah Palin's life story to voters across America as ardently as NBC is hyping its women-in-the-city show Lipstick Jungle.
Sarah, the Republican candidate for vice president, is just like you, a regular hockey and career mom. Yet she's strong, and can take on a moose or a good-old-boy wayward politician. She's a governor. She's got values. Ethics. Five kids. Baby Trig, with Down Syndrome.
The story is all laid out for America to see. Watch this charming family. Vote to put this Supermom a heartbeat away from the White House.
Yet suddenly when the Palins' 17-year-old daughter Bristol turns out to be unwed and pregnant, we're not supposed to talk about it?
We're supposed to, as Palin's campaign spokesperson Maria Comella said, "respect a person's privacy."
Or as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said, treat the Palin family issues as "off limits."
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That seems hypocritical to me. McCain, according to many reports, wouldn't have picked Palin except for her family values -- particularly, her strong stance against abortion.
Instead of a hands-off approach, the media should be delving deeper into this real-life example of family values.
What kind of discussion did the family have? Does young Bristol have to get married at 17 to uphold the parents' standards, or does she want to? How did Palin communicate the family's values around premarital sex?
Sure, some things about families with a parent running for national office should be private -- it would be wrong if photographers stalked Bristol's every move, for example.
But Gov. Palin didn't make the ticket for her foreign policy experience. She's there because she's a rising Republican woman with charisma, a compelling life story and conservative political values on family matters.
Let's hear more about how she lives those values.
-- Rosemary Shinohara
The Republican presidential campaign is marketing Gov. Sarah Palin's life story to voters across America as ardently as NBC is hyping its women-in-the-city show Lipstick Jungle.
Sarah, the Republican candidate for vice president, is just like you, a regular hockey and career mom. Yet she's strong, and can take on a moose or a good-old-boy wayward politician. She's a governor. She's got values. Ethics. Five kids. Baby Trig, with Down Syndrome.
The story is all laid out for America to see. Watch this charming family. Vote to put this Supermom a heartbeat away from the White House.
Yet suddenly when the Palins' 17-year-old daughter Bristol turns out to be unwed and pregnant, we're not supposed to talk about it?
We're supposed to, as Palin's campaign spokesperson Maria Comella said, "respect a person's privacy."
Or as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said, treat the Palin family issues as "off limits."
ADVERTISEMENT
That seems hypocritical to me. McCain, according to many reports, wouldn't have picked Palin except for her family values -- particularly, her strong stance against abortion.
Instead of a hands-off approach, the media should be delving deeper into this real-life example of family values.
What kind of discussion did the family have? Does young Bristol have to get married at 17 to uphold the parents' standards, or does she want to? How did Palin communicate the family's values around premarital sex?
Sure, some things about families with a parent running for national office should be private -- it would be wrong if photographers stalked Bristol's every move, for example.
But Gov. Palin didn't make the ticket for her foreign policy experience. She's there because she's a rising Republican woman with charisma, a compelling life story and conservative political values on family matters.
Let's hear more about how she lives those values.
-- Rosemary Shinohara