Teen Pregnancy is an unwanted social reality that will never go away, but if Palin were black, conservatives would have a field day with this. I could just see that $400 million dollar junkie, Rush Limbaugh, and all his right wing friends milking it for all it's worth.

Sent by JC | 1:07 PM ET | 09-01-2008

Judge not and you shall not be judged would be the right thing to say. However, if the shoe was on the other foot. We all know the answer to this question.

Sent by Airet | 1:55 PM ET | 09-01-2008

I think this is a problem in the USA but if she was black it would be a different news story, Carl Rowe had nothing negative to say about this, If had been one of Obama gaughters what a story it would be. It ok it they are white and it's a disgrace if they are black.

Sent by bob1 | 3:07 PM ET | 09-01-2008

Well, If you take the words the Republicans are using to comment on Palin's daughter and did a simple exercise...Close your eyes imagine they are talking about a Democrate's family member--or, better yet substitute the words "Palin" for "Hillary", "Biden" or "Obama".
Now ask youself..."Can you really believe that they would have the same response?"...be honest..."Hell no!!!"

Sent by kkit | 3:33 PM ET | 09-01-2008

I suspect this will work out positively for the McCain/Palin ticket. Sadly, if it were an Obama daughter, it would be a no-win situation - and the negative sanctions would cross party lines. This was apparent on smaller scale when Democrat George Stephanopolous said several times that Sasha Obama "disrupted" Obama's surprise on-screen appearance during the convention. I don't know what is in Mr. Stephanopolous' heart, but I suspect that had a Biden grandchild done the same, it would have been deemed "cute".

Reminds me of how following Katrina the media portrayed some people who took food from flooded markets as good folk, just feeding their poor stranded families, while those of a darker hue were delcared looters.
We still have a long way to go, America.

Sent by muffet11 | 4:01 PM ET | 09-01-2008

Really dumb hypothesis.

How about; what would life be like in america if Palin became commander in chief by default...you know, like if McCain croaked on the job?

Sent by george | 4:26 PM ET | 09-01-2008

If Malia or Sasha were pregnant now......Obama would NEVER be president of the USA. It would be another excuse for the haters to throw something else in his face. I can't wait to see how O'Reilly and Sean Hannity spin this one.

Sent by Jake's Mom | 5:56 PM ET | 09-01-2008

If Sen. Obama's daughters were pregnant, he would have his grandchildren aborted. This is the only conclusion one can gather from Sen. Obama's own words: "But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."

This is not the ranting of the Drudge Report or of Rush Limbaugh. These are his own words. As far as Sen. Obama is concerned, his own grandchildren are punishment. A great left-leaning opinion piece on this by Nat Hentoff expounds on this at: http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/896416.html

Sent by Matthew C. Scallon | 9:39 PM ET | 09-01-2008

Obviously, race and ethnicity remain a central context as a primary organizing principle for our world.

It is less productive to focus on the particulars of an obvious hypothesis than to take it as another indicator of that larger context.

Thus, while one pregnancy may be "humanizing" while another is "baby mama drama," we should not spend much time on the dichotomy.

We should take it as an intense reorganization of priorites as our populism makes less and less relevant honest intellectualism and superior leadership in favor of a President who, in order to win, must show him/herself the consummate everyman and regular Jane.

Let's try that with all of our other leaders, starting with our sport heroes that cause us to spend billions for purely emotional and vicarious satisfaction: "Man, I wish that quarterback would throw a few more interceptions. I just can't identify with that high-performance elitism."

I don't want a President who has time to have pancakes with me at the diner, shoot moose with me and my friends, kiss every baby in the neighborhood in order to get my vote. Even if he/she learns something, as far as statistical samples go, that information isn't so reliable for crafting policy. If the person were not human (i.e. able to eat pancakes with strangers) before, then not even 250 lumberjack breakfasts will fix that.

In times like these, we need a President. Unfortunately, we may get what we ask for - us.

Sent by hustleandfloe | 12:21 AM ET | 09-02-2008

There are always going to be people out there who want to judge us... no matter our race or political party. It is just "Funner" and "More Exciting" to some -- to write about and read about negative things. How many times have celebrities, politicians, and every-day citizens done honorable, helpful things -- and nobody notices those things. No one says, "Thank you!" to us... or even thinks twice about the good things we do as humans.

They put stories about a dog or other pet saving someone's life, or a person saving an animal's life... but when a 17 year old girl saves a life -- by deciding not to abort an innocent bystander (her own infant), regardless of her color -- that part is left out. It is when there is something bad, something to "gossip" about... that we all (generally speaking) want to share it and talk about it.

Why? Because it makes us feel better about ourselves! But we shouldn't put others down to lift ourselves. I hope that even if "inconsiderate" people do make a deal out of a young girl's personal choices, that the rest of us...
The commenter here on this site
The viewer of TV and News at home
The believer in "Choice"
The Pro-Life supporter
will not be as quick to judge and put people down as the "Media" is so famous for... regardless of whether we are black or white, Obama or Palin.

After all, those of us who believe in "Choice" should remember that it is just that a choice that we are given if we want to abort, or "Choice" to give life to another innocent individual if we wish too.

This whole topic has nothing to do with why each of us feels we have to vote for who we must, anyway. So, let's be "adult" about this please. Let us leave it alone to be the "Choice" of Bristol Palin and leave it alone! And we can turn to worry about our country and who would do the best job helping us all to a brighter future.

Sent by Esther Smith / Oregon | 12:31 AM ET | 09-02-2008

I don't know if McCain believes all women are shallow in their thinking, but to think that by selecting Governor Palin as an alternative to Senator Clinton, shows poor judgment. Palin is indeed a working mother of 5 but she is also a gun-toting, anti environmentalist, who denies global warming.
Additionally, how will she focus on this nation's vital issues as is required of a vice president while dealing with all the emotional issues of her daughter's situation as well as her own of having a Down's Syndrome child? How does she address the fact that her teen daughter's pregnancy contradicts her stance that schools should not teach sex education...only parents should teach sex ed and just abstinence only. Even the single-issue Evangelicals must be concerned.

Sent by oldmom60 | 1:48 AM ET | 09-02-2008

Can we agree with Obama's sentiments, as recorded in the NY Times?

Mr. Obama said the pregnancy "has no relevance to Governor Palin's
performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice
president." He added that, "my mother had me when she was 18. How a
family deals with issues and teen-age children - that shouldn't be the
topic of our politics."

"So," he added, "I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of
stories."

Sent by Lauren | 9:35 AM ET | 09-02-2008

They would say Obama's daughter's were irresponsible and that Obama didn't have any fatherly influence on his daughter to remain abstinent. Of course they'd run into the ground and Fox News would have a loop of it playing over and over. We wouldn't hear anything else but that. But it's odd, how the Republicans are behaving as if this were the best thing since Apple Pie and this makes her a real person. But it doesn't. This girl has parents who are doing finacially okay. Most African American teens don't have a support system, their parents are barely making it financially themselves and some were even teen parents themselves. And even worse is that McCain voted against funds that would help teen pregnancy programs. It's shameful on the Republicans part, that they would choose a Palin, and she would subject her child to such public scrutiny all in the name of a furthering her career.

Sent by Heaven Help Us | 10:10 AM ET | 09-02-2008

it is a double standard. if obama's child was pregnant, the entire nation would condemn him and his political career. moreover, i can guarantee that this "incident" will blow over without any significant hindering affects towards mccain/palin's presidental campaign. it is so unfair

Sent by bcc | 3:37 PM ET | 09-02-2008

These things would never arise with Senator Obama simply because the Senator is a male. How can he possibly expect to run our country when he has children at home to care for? Doesn't that simply sound preposterous? The Dems have lost my vote for this cycle by complaining about issues and change, then choosing another career Senator, one who's been there since before Reagan. And then of course, obscuring the issues by gossiping about a teenage girl. This fixes Iraq and the economy HOW?

Sent by Michael Bailey | 4:20 PM ET | 09-02-2008

Was Senator Obama himself conceived in a "legitimate" union? If not, as a conservative, I must say that it makes no difference. I don't care!!! Fortunately, he was born. Unfortunately, he doesn't promote what I believe and I won't vote for him. But Thank God he was born.

Sent by sssnakebite | 6:31 PM ET | 09-02-2008

I appreciated Senator Obama's statement about Palin's daughter, and understand why he said it. However when Palin chose to accept the vice presidency from McCain, she chose to put her children on the spotlight, especially when she is running on a platform of family values. I would never "blame" Palin or criticize her for her daughter's actions, but it makes me for one ask how will she balance all of these issues that are in front of her. She has 5 children, one with special needs and another who is still a child herself having a child and getting married (to boot). I am an attorney who is pregnant with twins. Yes, I am ambitions and goals, but my number one job is to be a mother. The superwoman is a facade. It doesn't exist. Palin's family should be focusing on their family's many issues and not on how to become the new VP of the US. And...yes, it's unfair that the burden is placed on the mother and not the father, but this is life. In most fmailies, the mother is the nurturer and caregiver. 99% of the time.

Sent by Muriel | 11:53 AM ET | 09-03-2008

No one said it anywhere, so I finally had to google "If Sasha were pregnant" in quotes.

Finally - I found what I was looking for on this website... "If Sasha were pregnant, Obama would NOT be running for president." He certainly would not have been selected as running mate. Even if Sasha were a senior in college (as opposed to a 17 year old high school student), it would NOT happen.

Personally - I don't care. I agree with Obama that it has no place in politics, nor does it have anything to do with how she will do her job.

But as an African-American, it ENRAGES me to hear people saying positive things about the pregnancy, knowing if the reverse were true, the comments would be anything BUT positive.

And the sad part is, if you asked someone they'd deny that their reaction would be different. Racism is so institutionalized here, that people don't even notice they are doing it.

And that's the problem, most "hate-crimes" are committed by ignorant people. And, while these crimes are disgusting, they are not part of the main stream. People can always say, "I'm not a racist because I don't do vile things like that."

But it's not the vile things that make someone racist. It's situations like this. When you have different sets of standards for a person of color as opposed to someone white, YOU ARE A RACIST. It doesn't matter that you don't say the N-word or lynch anyone.

It's pretty clear that in this situation, there is a TOTALLY different set of standards for blacks and whites; and it makes me angry every single time I hear a positive comment about the situation.

THIS is the racism that black people are always talking about. THIS is the type of situation that has black people always saying, "You have to work twice as hard to get half as far." THIS is the racism that has to end if people of color are TRULY to be considered equal.

Sent by Candice Washington | 12:12 AM ET | 09-04-2008

To follow up on my previous post - Mr. Stephanopolous' comment about Piper spit-combing little Trig's hair, was "so heartwarming, so terrific"...
Don't get me wrong - I agree, it was heartwarming, terrific and cute - a wonderful show of Piper's love for her baby brother. I am not suggesting that Mr. Stephanopolous' partisan views should extend to his opinion of the candidates' kids. But - why was the obvious enthusiasm and joy Obama's daughter showed to see her Daddy declared a disruption? It was a wonderful show of the love a little girl has for her father that the media does not seem to capture enough when covering Black families.
Instead, dedicated mothers like Michelle Obama are referred to as "Baby Mama" by the likes of Fox. How high must the Obamas jump to earn the same respect that seems to be the right of only some Americans?

Sent by muffet11 | 12:51 AM ET | 09-04-2008

Many of us are obviously thinking the same thing. If this were one of Obama's daughters, we'd never hear the end of it. And we all know this! I have to hand it to the McCain campaign that a potential show stopper like this was just made into a speed bump.

Sent by kcbaker | 8:20 PM ET | 09-05-2008