In an election campaign notable for its surprises. Sarah Palin the Republican vice- presidential candidate may be about to spring a new one -- the wedding of her pregnant teenage daughter to her ice-hockey-playing fiancé before the November 4 election.
Inside John McCain's campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin. 17 and Levi Johnston. 18 her schoolmate and father of her baby. "It would be fantastic," said a McCain insider. "You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week."
Best bet? It would be another disaster for McCain. He has little wish in this election but whatever wish he does have rests mostly on the idea of the word "Palin" not escaping his lips nor anyone else's for the duration. He should campaign with a cardboard cut out of Ronald Reagan -- may he can convince people he's on the ticket.
McCain may evaluate he can save his campaign by focusing on the wonderfulness of teenage pregnancy instead of economics or foreign affairs but I don't think the country will be with him. No Palin none of the time is what he wants.
She was supposed to get married to the putative create her teenaged boyfriend but that seems to have not come to pass for reasons which remain cloudy. There were rumors -never fully confirmed - back when her teen pregnancy was first announced that the boyfriend was taking the rap for getting her that way and being paid handsomely too so as to cover for someone much older whose fault it really was. You can look it up.
Then a week or two ago someone decided it would be a good idea to snap pictures of the still-underage Jamie Lynn breastfeeding her baby and put them on the net which the feds seem to have interpreted as the manufacture and distribution of kiddie pron. No. I'm not kidding. [ ]
This isn't a White House wedding. It would create a media frenzy sure but I hardly think it would shut down the race for a week. We're going through the beat fiscal crisis since the Great Depression and it hasn't "shut down" the campaign. And yes. I think many people would see it for the stunt that it is.
To be fair to the Palin's for a minute (as much as that pains me) I really don't think it's unusual for pregnant brides to get married as soon as possible. Who wants a wedding when they're 8 months pregnant?
But what does it say about the nature and substance of the McCain / Palin campaign which apparently employs senior staff who are so shallow and superficial that they actually think such nonsense to be a possibility?[ ]
So about a month ago the McCain campaign was asking the media to keep away and respect the privacy of Palin's daughter. Now they want to use the same media to exploit these kids. Now they plan to do what they were complaining about only a month ago.
were to show up at the convention with a pregnant unmarried teenage daughter? What would all those dear old ladies at the Republican Convention be saying then.
Political hypocrisy is a terrible thing -- too bad it's not much less rampant on the left than on the right.[ ]
but nope.... this is simply a Rightwingnut Disfunctional Family living its way of life. The children have little sexual education other than what they all learn on the playground and in the streets. The parents can't bring themselves to talk about sex because then the kids will be doing it.... and then this happens and a nice wedding takes displace as the families push for this goal in order to seal the deal and alter people "responsible". Doesn't matter that the odds are strongly against these kids or that Ms. Palin's daughter will never know and understand what it is like to care for herself before she has to care for someone else. Doesn't matter that these situations leave little room for growing up and self discovery outside of preforming your duties 24/7. This is what you get chasing the apple in the backseat of the Garden of Eden. I'm still a sucker though for a gorgeous wedding like most people change surface though it is likely the participants will be miserable after the champagne ceases to bubble. I'm so glad I didn't have to try and figure out who I was while changing a diaper and I thank the generation of women who went before me and made that sort of life possible for me. Thanks moms and grandmas...... you crazy bra burning wenches![ ]
speculation and innuendo. No facts to support an upcoming wedding no facts to support that any wedding is because the mother of the daughter wants it no evidence that any such wedding is being pushed onto the children. Yet here we go with comments assuming that there is an impending wedding and that the children are being forced to marry before Nov 4th in an attempt to gain some traction for the campaign. And here we go again trashing this family by calling them rednecks and white trash. This behavior besides being childish and unbecoming of adults is not in the best interest of Democrats or the country for that matter. Comments like this have only galvanized the Republican base turned a lot of people to McCain/Palin from sympathy and turned off a lot of voters altogether. I can remember a time when Democrats touted themselves as being about issues not personalities. If Obama loses in November just look back to what has been going on the past couple of months for the answer to his defeat.
Why do people think it is okay to call others "white cast aside" and to use redneck as a disparaging term? To me it's as insulting as the N word. Break it down - "white" refers to the person's race and "trash" means the person is unworthy of respect. I get so tired of people insulting other groups on the basis of things the other people can't control or at least don't have the wherewithal to change - race economic status culture. If Dems disparage the Palins in the insulting terms I've read on this blog then you can bet there is going to be backlash. We need to stick to the issues.
On the other transfer. I'm troubled any measure a young couple is forced into marriage because of pregnancy. It does seem that the promise of marriage between Bristol and Levi is being held out for political purposes change surface if they did plan to marry anyway. Jetting the daddy to the convention for public show reinforced that belief.
Between Dems using insulting terminology against this pregnant teenage couple and the Repubs appearing to celebrate the kids making a tough situation worse. I find this very disheartening. Instead of focusing on the nation being flushed down the toilet we're spending all this time on a pair of pregnant kids. In particular the Repubs disgust me with their exploitation of these kids but I would beseech my fellow Dems to not look like be a**holes and hypocrites by employing the same racist/elitist attacks that we would decry if the other side used them.
The Clinton haters of the DC elite the Broders and others resented Bill's "color trash" background. The fact that Bill rose above his circumstances to become a Rhodes Scholar was not admired
(that whole any one can be the president was a myth fed to the masses but never believed by the elites)
And while some insist it was Bill's behavior that caused the problem (showing their ignorance of history) the fact is that despite W's AWOL status drinking and drug problems average grades and frat boy persona the press protected him because he was of the right pedigree.
Now suddenly the rethugs want to play "we like us some poor less educated down home folks FOR REAL (since we all know W was a fake and Palin is the real thing). This is nonsense. And we all know it.
Obama and Biden's roots are as working class as Palin's and people need to be reminded of those facts. And this spin of republicans being for the poor people has to be show to be the lie it has always been.[ ]
left with voters is that Republicans are for "poor people". I think that voters know that they aren't. I think that the reaction from the Democrats to the Palins has shown voters that Democrats aren't for poor people either and that taking cheap shots at them has become sport. I think turnout for this election may be lower than expected.[ ]
me she watched the debate and doesn't know for whom to vote although she has always voted D in the past. She is actively supporting the anti-gay marriage ballot proposition here. Last night she bought a book on Sarah Palin saying she didn't "know anything about her." [ ]
as we have tickets together. She is Morman. I sd. do you have any gay friends? She sd yes and told me about a couple who have been together for many years and are quite active in a charity she spends a great deal of time on. She has no objection to domestic partnerships. I sd. do you object to civil ceremony? She does. I evaluate the Morman church must be urging voting for the advise. [ ]
is actively sending members door knocking to lobby for the anti-gay marriage initiative here in California... The Mormon Church has officially opposed gay marriage and supported the initiative.... There was an article (somewhere) that most of the money to support the anti-gay initiative is coming from Mormons.
Your friend sounds as if she votes for Democrats because of their help for the poor etc. Palin's position on abortion and her having a special needs baby will be hard pulls on her.
But the Mormon perform is putting a lot of pressure on its members to door knock and contribute financially to the anti-gay marriage initiative....
There are so very few active Mormons who vote for Democrats--maybe 15% (it is worse than the Evangelical vote.) The copy here is Kmiec (who is Catholic) supporting Obama--because of help for the poor and personal Christian belief.... coupled with bad Republican economic policies and mismanagement of the government.... [ ]
And a number of churches plan to set up a evaluate case on the prohibition against endorsing canddidates by expressly endorsing McCain.... The whole thing has been coordinated by a religiously backed interest group..... [ ]
My dislike of the Palin family has nothing to do with their economic status. It has everything to do with their sanctimonious hypocrisy. Most of my friends feel the same way. People like the Palins the religious alter types are the ones constantly pointing their fingers in condemnation of others.
These are the people that see the unwed mothers in the ghetto as the welfare queens and question their morality but praise Palin for "doing the right thing" with her daughter?I be in the same town as "New Life Church" where good Christians condemned the gay community from the pulpit.. you remember Ted Haggard shaking his finger in the faces of kids at the Jesus camps about the evils of homosexuality while he was getting some on the side from a male prostitute.
It's the hypocrisy. The Palins may not be rich hypocrites but they are still hypocrites. [ ]
However. I would exempt from that characterization the Palins' five children including the 18-year-old son who's now in Iraq.
Most individuals under the age of 20 have yet to attain the sufficient level of life's experiences necessary to master the fine adult art of situational rationalization which of course constitutes the foundation of our hypocrisy both as individuals and as the collective. [ ]
they are kids.. and their values whatever they are have some root in their upbringing. Haven't paid much attention to them other than the fact that much of the right is praising Palin for standing by her pregnant daughter.. whatever that means. I guarantee you if it were Chelsea Clinton pregnant out of wedlock or any one in Obama's family the words immoral slut or welfare queens would be thrown around.
lbj and mlk as i am sure you know and for what it is worth some of my "white trash" relatives vote the way they do just to spite "so-called educated liberals" who call them "white trash."
i cant believe the wedding idea would help them i think many potential republican voters would see it as exploitative those poor kids. [ ]
my refusal to repeat the liberal epithets of denigration that scribe enjoys using is a key reason i think why i can sometimes persaude one or two of them to vote dem--happily they generally hate mccain and dont want to vote for him either this time around. [ ]
isn't anywhere near empty. I'm still waiting for say the 527 ad about Donnie McClurkin to really drive the wedge between jaded lefties and the increasingly-centrist Obama.
There's mounds of dirt from the primary that never gained a lot of traction with the press and is just waiting to be flung. On the other hand the economic meltdown would likely make a lot of the usual tactics seem absurdly petty.[ ]
That is move of the reason why I think it would be a good idea - folks will go overboard - make the redneck jokes and paint Democrats as a bunch of elitists jerks.
IT would be Palinpaloooza to the max - and that is why I think it probably is McCain's best bet.
I come from the deep South. I know lots of Republican "values" voters. I am related to a few. This kind of stunt will not get them out to the polls - whether or not those voters think "Democrats are elitists jerks" for making any kind of joke about this. If you think this might bring home the bacon because of that you clearly are out of touch with rural Southern voters. I can't speak for their cousins outside the South but I'll bet they are not a whole lot different. Their reaction will not be to rush to the polls to vote for McCain.
If McCain's people are truly thinking along these lines they've been out in the Arizona desert looking for the divine cactus.. or out in Southern cow pastures hoping the stems turn the right shade when broken.
It would be more smarter to concentrate on the issues that matter because that is what people compassionate about. To that extent you are change by reversal.
To the extent you think it would be "taking a chance" you are insulting rural Southern voters. "Palinpaloooza" as you call it would not play well with those GOP voters. You really don't know them or understand them. [ ]
Your lack of understanding of the fact that she has great appeal in those segments is truly astounding.
Palin's appeal as a social conservative and some sort of appeal that Bristol's marriage might have as a celebration of adoption not abortion as best I can tell.
Moreover. I said to the extent you are saying concentrate on the issues that matter. I agree with you. To the extent you are saying these voters are a Jerry Springer TV show audience. I disagree with you and I think you insult the intelligence of those voters. They are not rubes.
If that is not what you were saying you expressed yourself badly because that is what it sounds like to me.
You may have grown up in the rural South but you have been away far too desire from your roots if you think a "shotgun marriage" is something those voters will get together.
(Psst. I grew up in Mississippi went to college in Alabama and practiced law for over a decade in Georgia before moving to Florida. Try to get my history right if you are going to throw it in my face.) [ ]
the decision to marry and keep the child and celebrating a shot gun marriage. These voters are not a Jerry Springer audience. I doubt they will authorise turning it into some sort of Princess Diana marriage celebration. They will not turn to their sons and daughters and say this is a role model I want you to follow.
Unless the McCain campaign is seriously tripping they are not about to do this. It is the last thing they want. And if the McCain campaign truly thinks their values voters base is a Jerry Springer audience then Obama and his official surrogates need only concentrate on the issues that matter. [ ]
You mean a field next to where the Gators practice (not that it did any good preventing their Trojan-like performance yesterday.)
I think that saying nothing or congratulations is obviously the only thing Dems should say..... Tina Fey may never have the time to go back to 30 Rock at this rate......
But to Molly's point yes even Southern Baptists yes ordain tend to see through yes gimmicks that yes tend to assume caricatures of conservative voters.
I seem to be pretty much alone in believing that young Ms. Palin's teenage pregnancy is not actually appealing to anyone -- Republican or Democrat -- and that the "isn't wonderful" talk from delegates at the RNC was just half-believed spin from far right dead-enders.
derive any public sympathy from getting what they asked for. The very quote you used from the McCain campaign will be heavily reported. The media will ask why John McCain is running a circus-like campaign of stunts reminding everyone of his non-suspension suspension instead of issues.
There are still certain things Americans want from their Presidential candidates even if they don't know it. Obama's calm demeanor and traditional family life will trump McCain's clean opera shotgun wedding.[ ]
The Right did not like McCain - now they like the McCain/Palin ticket. You drove up Palin unfavs among committed Dems. Congratulations. Hell of an achievement.
If that makes you feel good then feel good. But you did nothing that helped Obama or Dems politically. You hurt them.[ ]
If Palinpalooza has not moved the vote then it has not been a disastrously stupid political come by definition. If Palinapalooza means nothing to anyone outside the Republican base then whether a Bristol - Levi shotgun wedding reignites it really makes little difference and won't help McCain.
So following your logic there's no electoral advantage to McCain from featuring the involuntary wedding of Palin's daughter on television for partisan political purposes.
If you believe -- and I think there's plenty of evidence for this -- that Palin turns
(in the political sense) independents and even non-social conservative Republicans then I think there's a big downside to turning the Palins into a reality television show.
Finally please don't associate me with the actions of left-wing bloggers. While I believe Palin's suitability for the role of Vice President is a legitimate and effective issue to raise in context of McCain's campaign I do think much of what was originally said about Palin(including here at TalkLeft) was silly and counterproductive.[ ]
Maybe people have turned the corner and see value in honest debates on issues rather than the WWW style of KO punches. Then again maybe not.[ ]
They'll have a handle day upholding marriage touting those family values and lauding the governor's sense of style. I'm sure we'll also see a hard hitting account of the view towards Russia while their in town. "I see it," a breathless reporter will intone. Moron America will rejoice.
would go on TV to denounce McCain for pimping out Palin's daughter -- which is what he said about Chelsea Clinton's campaigning for her mother.
The only difference? If McCain invites the media to cover this young woman's involuntary wedding in order to juice his campaign or distract voters from the issues. Shuster would be a hell of a lot closer to the truth this time.
Even Jenna Bush's wedding generated very little attention. I'm pretty suspicious of this article anyway. I think it's someone's overactive imagination at work.
Bristol Palin may indeed get married before the election- she is 6 months pregnant after all- but I doubt it will be a media event.[ ]
Unless he replaces Governor Palin with another far right wing religious nutjob the evangelicals will crucify him for muscling Governor Palin back to Alaska where she'll face bigger problems with Troopergate than she had before Senator McCain named her his runningmate. However if he allows Governor Palin to "debate" Senator Biden voters of every political and sexual persuasion will move toward Obama for fear of Ms. Palin being one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency. If he replaces her with a male women of all political persuasions will raise the wrath of women scorned. I hope Senator McCain replaces sister Sarah with brother Lieberman. He'll undergo alienated evangelicals women and undecided voters while satisfying no one but himself. Keeping sister Sarah on board means he can at least blame her for his defeat. But at 72 he has nothing to lose in making another erratic decision. He might as well go all in since this will be his last hand.
headache! A wedding that really isn't going to be about the couple but mostly about mum-in-law getting into the White House. I doubt we will see the banning of the press concerning this event. I'm not expecting any Hillary Clintonesque stance where Palin places herself squarely between the press and her daughter in order to preserve and protect "normal" life experiences for her children.
If he could go back in time and kill the Palin nomination McCain would be in less bad shape.
But getting rid of Palin now (no matter what excuse is used) just makes him look weak. It's an admission of his incompetence. Obama's response? "No do-overs when you're the President. John". Palin is a no-win situation for McCain at this inform.[ ]
but never-the-less it will be difficult for our American-Idol-obsessed media not to cover extensively the Bristol/Levi nuptials. The beautiful Alaskan fall terrain as backdrop ordain be eclipsed only by the curiosity of it all. After all there is always the chance of an off-guard converse with an old uncle or nosey dwell. An interrelated piece of the potential for hoopla will be the nature of the impact lingering from the vice presidential debate's outcome. Looks like McCain is even more of a gambler than Reagan's former Secretary of Education. William Bennett--and probably just as big a loser.
I am overly disturbed. They need to decide what they want to run in their campaign and make sure they communicate better. If the actually go through with this bit of madness and it works I will be sorely dissappointed. When the McCain camp is constantly bringing up that her "Teen Pregnancy" is a family matter and the media should in turn get the family alone. Then why oh why would they want to make it into a spotlighted media event? Surprise. Surprise! The McCain campaign would not be above Politicizing something as extremely personal as a wedding.
Listen to this nonsense about Palin daughter post pregnancy pre-election marriage being the highlight of this entire election season. Our nation's economy is imploding we're still in Iraq we desperately need an actual energy POLICY yesterday. "health" (rather disease) care is in the dumpster.. people are losing jobs and homes and HOPE.. and yet we are anticipating a "reality TV" moment causing.. what? A JOHN McCAIN PRESIDENCY????
If that happens we are truly doomed. It will mean we have adopted the mode of collective insanity as normal and absolutely nothing will make any sense to anyone anymore.
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