Does Sarah Palin's Pregnant 17 year old Daughter, Bristol, Change Conservative's Vote?

[Denise]

Just when we were getting over the shocked that Sen. McCain selected a Conservative 44 year old, Mother of 5, Governor of Alaska as his Vice Presidential running mate; We now learn that Palin's 17 year old daughter, Bristol Palin, is 5 months pregnant. News stories indicate that the high school senior will keep her baby and will marry the father(whoever that is).

If Palin was the answer of capturing conservative undecided and independent women's vote, will this news of Palin's daughter pregnancy hamper their plan of a GOP victory in November!

[Cynthia Grady]

I think we have risen above this. Although we still have some people that will turn this as a negative and it will be used in their voting strategy. I just want this to be fair and the right man will be voted into the white house, and we all know who that is....

[Denise]

....I think that everyone is trying to take the high road on this issue!

However, I just can't stop thinking if Barack's girl's were older and if their oldest daughter, Melia,was pregnant, would the GOP party be as courteous? or would they use it to just malign and attack his campaign....just as they have done with EVERYTHING else relating to Barack or Michelle!

[Bennie Covington]

I think the bigger issue is the argument that the GOP has made. John McCain has repeatedly said that Senator Obama lacks experience, "he is not ready to be president", and yet Gov. Sarah Palin seems to be more or less experienced than Senator Obama. This undermines the argument that Senator McCain has been trying to make during presidential run. There seems to be a disconnect between what the GOP is saying, and what they are doing. The last thing I want to see as a voter is a presidential candidate who speaks differently than they act.

Further more, Sarah Palin is very conservative when it comes to sexual education. She believes that the only education minors should receive on sex should be abstinence instead of prevention. this is one of the reason many social conservatives support her. However, her very own daughter is pregnant at the age of 17yrs. Signaling that abstinence alone will not cut unwanted pregnancies, there has to be education in prevention too. This also undermines Gov. Palins social conservative argument.

It seems that John McCain's VP pick of Gov. Sarah Palin has really compromised the Republican/conservative argument of why they would be a better choice for president than the Democrats.

[Denise]

Ahhhhhh......yes! this has been the GOP's stance that Sen. Obama lacks experience and is not ready to lead the country; however, they (GOP) have consistently stated that Sarah Palin has More"Leadership" Experienced than Sen. OBama because she has held two high profiled positions: Mayor and Governor and that the Senator has only held a legislative seat and is now in the senate. However, they double talk and shy away from stating that Palin has more experience than Joe Biden......especially as it relates to foreign policy.........and besides it'll be just foolish for them to state that she has more experience than Senator Biden who has 35 years in the senate!

Gov. Palin does support abstinence base education and yet her daughter apparently did not share her same views; however, the consevatives and the GOP have already spunned that situation as well. Instead of condemning Bristol Palin, they support the ideal that she has not opted to abort her child and have assumed her responsibilities of carrying the baby to term and raising it and plans to marry the baby father!

I truly believe that the GOP just got caught in a major debacle with picking Palin and clearly did not thoroughly "vetted" this candidate as they have previous stated! It is going to be interesting what else may be reveal w/in the remaining months of this race!

[Steve L. Robbins, Ph.D.]

I doubt it will change the votes of people who already knew they were going to choose McCain. The McCain campaign has already reframed the issue as one of 1) people make mistakes, 2) forgive them, 3) don't go after the kids. It's actually a very good strategy because it allows many people who might have issues (cognitive dissonance) with the pregnancy to be comforted by truths that they likely hold. In fact, some research suggest it should embolden their position because now they an "attack" those who "attack" a teenager who makes mistakes, but is apparently doing the "right thing" in response. In short, what initial dissonance they held because of two inconsistent pieces of information (e.g., Good - possibly Christian - people don't raise kids who have teenage pregnancies AND my VP candidate has a a teenage child who is pregnant) can now be deflected to the "enemy" (e.g., Democrats who attack a family and teenage who is bound to make a mistake). The big question is how will "independents" or others who have not yet made up their minds be affected by this. Likely, those who were leaning McCain will try to find a positive while those who were leaning Obama will find a negative. Bottom line is that true conservatives will not change their vote. They will find ways to reframe the issue positively in order to maintain their psychological position. (See a pretty cool concept in psychology called "Belief Perserverance.")

[Denise]

Dr. Robbins,
Thank you for responding to my post :-)

Correct! this recent development will have no baring on the die hard McCain supporters! However, they aren't thrilled over the fact that Palin's daughter is pregnant, they will of course spin the situation in the most positive light: She has accepted responsibility, she didn't abort the baby, and she plans to marry the baby's father and As you have pointed out: Kids are off limits, people make mistakes, forgive them and let's move on to the issues!

The real question in general regardless of Bristol Palin's Pregnancy is the undecided and independent voters. If they are conservative...they may swallow that hard pill (Bristol Pregnancy) ....or I feel that they may not cast their vote at all. If they are liberal, I don't think that Palin's conservative views are/were appealing to those voters anyway. Hillary supporters wanted Hillary to be on the ticket...............and Palin ain't Hillary!

[Steve L. Robbins, Ph.D.]

Amen... Palin is no Hillary and I mean that in the most positive light for Senator H. Clinton. With that said, it's not the individuals necessarily within the party, it's the party's way of doing things that tends to leave out the many and lift up the few. McCain was much better when he was a true "maverick Republican" now he's just like the establishment who has historic amnesia - forgot from whence he came and who he is supposed to be serving. The "trickle down effect" often cited by conservative Republicans has more recently been the "trickle down your leg" effect. Big business is running strong and yet the average person is doing worse. Thanks George! ...And I say that with much enmity toward the man (who got into Yale with "C" averages out of high school) but with much respect for the office.

[Denise]

Did you happen to watch the RNC last evening? Well, incase you didn't, it was riddled with attacks and coupled with sarcastic and smugged remarks against Senator Obama.

Former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee, was the only one that showed some kind of class! At least he acknowledge the historical occasion of Senator Obama's nomination before he went on to assassinate his character......LOL!!!

And why are they throwing around the word "Maverick" left and right? Have they forgotten what the word means?? They can't say that about McCain any longer no matter how many times they use it to describe him. As you've stated, he was a "Maverick" years ago.......now he is just with the status quo!

This is going to be a very close race! I don't think it'll be called on election night! This election can be a galvanizing tool for our country or further polarize us as a nation!

[William Cooke]

I think it was Gandhi who said, "There is no god higher than truth." When one's religious dogma contradicts real life, it's time to re-examine the dogma. It is well past time to re-examine the political policies that have been espoused, supported and enacted by the "religious right" who have had such a stranglehold on the GOP... and our nation.

[Denise]

Hi William,
thanks for responding to the post :-)

A "stranglehold" is a joke! It's like auto erotic asphyxia! they are getting some sort of sick pleasure from it all.......

[Cynthia Grady]

On that note Ms. Denise, what is there left to say!!!

[Alan Headbloom]

An interesting update to the sad saga of these two young people--who were paraded out as an "honorable couple" at the GOP convention--is that they have now gone their separate ways. Lucky for the youngster. Hard to be born into the home of two people who really have nothing in common except a brief, intimate interlude. What we've learned from all this: that politics is a nasty, manipulative business.