Candidates Kids Should Be Off- Limits
Steve Adubato, Ph.D.
CBS 2 Political Analyst

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is in big trouble.  John McCain should have done a little more checking and vetting before he opted to go with the neophyte Governor of Alaska, who happens to be a woman and who McCain hopes will pull some female voters to the Republican column this fall. 

When Palin first addressed the national media this past Friday, I was extremely impressed.  She’s great on her feet and looks terrific on camera, which is a big part of the equation when it comes to national politics.  She has a reputation as a change agent in Alaska, and clearly is tough on many levels.  But once you enter the national media spotlight, everything is fair game, even your 17-year-old daughter who is 5 months pregnant.  Allegedly, McCain knew this when he talked to Sarah Palin (for a whopping 15 minutes) before he selected her.  McCain also knew about the investigation going on in Alaska regarding allegations that Governor Palin used her influence to get her ex brother-in-law, an Alaskan state trooper, fired from his job in connection with the bitter divorce to her sister. 

From my perspective, the ethics investigation is totally fair game.  We should know what the Governor did or didn’t do to try to get her sister’s ex- husband fired as part of a state government operation in Alaska.  But as for her 17-year-old daughter Bristol, I say it should be off- limits to the media as well as to the Democrats.  Barack Obama said it himself that children are not fair game in a Presidential campaign.  It is tempting to make wisecracks, given Governor Palin’s outspoken and strident comments regarding the abstinence- only approach to prevent teen pregnancy.  Further, Palin’s argument that sex education for teens is counter- productive seems ironic on several levels. 

However, I’m a big believer that you can’t connect a candidate’s personal family situation directly to their politics or ideology, much less their job performance— it’s no one’s business.  This is especially true when you are dealing with a 17-year-old whose life is going to be turned upside down in the next months and years.  Sarah Palin is ardently pro- life.  She proved it herself by giving birth to a baby she knew had Downs Syndrome just several months into her own pregnancy.  If she and her daughter believe its best (if not morally right) for Bristol to have this baby, it’s their decision, not that of the American public. 

In spite of everything I’ve said, I also know this issue is going to be fair game in the media.  We can’t stop it.  It’s too juicy.  It’s too interesting.  It’s too ironic.  Many in the media can’t and won’t resist it, and in spite of what Barack Obama says, a lot of Democrats that want to get him elected are going to take pot shots at Sarah Palin and her family on this one.  That’s too bad, because every once in a while in American politics it would be nice for us to realize that some things are more important than scoring cheap political points.  In this case, a 17-year-old young woman who is pregnant and who didn’t ask or choose to be a public figure.  Her mother did.  It’s just something to think about.

Back to CBS 2 Column