Letters: Palin's Daughter, Experience

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MELISSA BLOCK, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

Now to your feedback on yesterday's program. And our inbox was filled with reaction to our coverage of John McCain's vice presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Yesterday, Palin issued a statement announcing that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. She also said that Bristol plans to marry the father.

But in our report, I referred to Bristol and the young man responsible for the pregnancy.

Well, that prompted several letter, including this one from Bob Heister(ph) of Pittsburgh. He wrote, excuse me, but aren't they both responsible for the pregnancy? Shame on you for perpetuating the stereotype that the man is responsible when the woman becomes pregnant. They both knew what they were doing, age-old conflict aside about who was or was not using birth control and who is responsible for a failure.

And many of your e-mails raised questions about whether we should be covering the candidates' children at all.

Julie Eflen(ph) of Muncie, Indiana sent us this. I agree with Obama and McCain. The families of candidates should be off limits. Palin's daughter and her difficulties, therefore, should not be part of the political news. But so too, Palin's son, who's serving in the military, should not be used to bolster Palin's credentials. Eflen is referring to Palin's oldest child who heads to Iraq this month.

Finally, some of you took issue with an aspect of my co-host Robert Siegel's report from the Republican convention. Robert talked with, among others, singer Pat Boone.

Boone told him that accusations of Sarah Palin's inexperience recalled similar comments about Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt's vice presidential pick in 1944.

Well, listener Dan Russnack(ph) wrote this: Mr. Truman was 60 at the time of his being placed on the ticket. He'd been in the U.S. Senate 10 years at the time. As a young man, he served several years in the Missouri National Guard, rising to battery commander of an artillery regiment in World War I. For most of the 10 years prior to being in the Senate, he held the title of judge in Jackson County, Missouri, a position more like that of a county commissioner. Perhaps, Boone meant another VP?

Thanks for your comments. You can write to us by going to out Web site, npr.org. Click on Contact Us at the top of the page.

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