James Dobson, Barack Obama among those reacting to pregnancy of Sarah Palin's daughter

Those quickly issuing statements reacting to the news that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant included James Dobson, head of the conservative Focus on the Family religious group, and Barack Obama.

Dobson, who has been noticeably cool toward John McCain's candidacy but was enthused by the Republican's selection of Palin as his running mate, had this to say:

In the 32-year history of Focus on the Family, we have offered prayer, counseling and resource assistance to tens of thousands of parents and children in the same situation the Palins are now facing.

We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way.

That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.

Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord. I've been the beneficiary of that forgiveness and restoration in my own life countless times, as I'm sure the Palins have.

The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a 'hypocrite,' but all it really means is that she and her family are human. They are in my prayers and those of millions of Americans.

On the campaign trail, meanwhile, Obama commented....

...after he finished an appearance in Monroe, Mich.:

I have heard some of the news on this. So let me be as clear as possible. I have said before and I will repeat again. I think people’s families are off limits. And people’s children are especially off limits.

This shouldn’t be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin’s performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories.

You know my mother had me when she was 18. And how family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics, and I hope that anyone supporting me understands that is off limits.

Mark Salter, the longtime McCain aide and confidant, was peppered with questions from reporters in St. Paul about the news. Asked how he thought delegates to the Republican National Convention and, more broadly, voters would react, he focused on the Palins, saying, "It's a warm, loving supportive family, and they’re all doing the right thing."

The Times' Mark Barabak relates that Salter added: "These things happen. This has probably happened to millions of American families."

A journalist noted that those families aren’t running for vice president, to which Salter replied: "Millions of Americans will relate to this -– this is a loving, supportive, strong, compassionate family, like many other families."

As to the effect on the convention, already thrown off kilter by Hurricane Gustav, Salter said the impact would depend on the level of media "hysteria" in covering news of the pregnancy.

"We’d like to get through this as quickly as we can so the Palins can have some privacy," he also said.

Barabak reports that Steve Schmidt, McCain's campaign manager, took much the same stance when discussing the pregnancy and its possible political fallout. Said Schmidt:

At the end of the day, they have asked for privacy and it will be up to the media whether it is afforded. We don't have control over it. I think the American people will have a harsh view, potentially, of intrusions into the privacy of a good and decent family.

McCain's top economic advisor, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, was pressed by reporters -- somewhat incongruously -- about the pregnancy news.

The Times' Doyle McManus reports that Holtz-Eakin finally snapped: "This is the governor's daughter. It is their issue. This is something we believe ought to be treated with a lot of respect. ... She has a family, she loves that family, and this is their business."

-- Don Frederick

Bristol Palin, 17, holds her brother Trig during the campaign rally where Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced Bristol and Trig's mom, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, as his vice presidential running mate in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, Aug. 29, 2008. Sarah Palin said Monday, Sept. 1, 2008, that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

Comments

[Katharine]

I agree that everyone should lay off Palin's daughter. Her actions have no place for discussion in this campaign. However, Sarah Palin's do, and if it is discovered that there is any kind of cover up or that this new news is any type of red herring, it should be discussed as it is about her integrity and her principles.

[Vic Arpeggio]

I'm sure the Republicans would handle this with dignity if the shoe were on the other foot. And then Hell would freeze over.

[LAJAY]

Why doesn't the media ask Gov. Palin if she has supported and preached abstinence to her children? Most hypocritical conservatives do. And if she did, she obviously didn’t do a good job convincing her daughter.

Also, if the Palin’s are such a “close and supportive family” as the McCain spin-doctors contend, then why didn’t she and her husband know that their daughter was having unprotected sex?

Why doesn’t the media ask these questions and expose another example of conservative hypocrisy, al la David Vitter, Larry Craig, et al?

[zepol61]

I had remained neutral on who to vote for in the November election until Sen. McCain picked his running mate. I could have seen myself voting for him, but not with his selection of a runningmate. I could put the country in Gov. Palin's hands. She isn't prepared to handle the difficulties of the presidency.

[Jay Walker]

It is fine as far as getting married and raise the kid with both parents around but what message does it give to the rest of the nation? That is is perfectly o.k to screw around as your parents will always support you how stupid your actions are?

[gerrrg]

Whoa, Dobson is wrong if he thinks anyone believes Palin to be a hypocrite. To the contrary, I find her to be the perfect Representation of the uncomfortable contradictions that define the Conservatives. The last time I checked, Conservatives frowned upon unwed mothers AND wanted to keep underage sex illegal - by considering it rape.

Hmm...no one is talking about prosecuting 'Levi', are they now? What it comes down to, is that the Conservatives are willing to forgive some (their own ilk) but not others.

[plankbob]

Good old Dr. Dobson:
"Some strong-willed children absolutely demand to be spanked, and their wishes should be granted. Two or three stinging strokes on the legs or buttocks with a switch are usually sufficient to emphasize the point, 'You must obey me.' '"
-- From The Strong-Willed Child, pp. 53-4.

"The boy's father has to do his part. He needs to mirror and affirm his son's maleness. He can play rough-and-tumble games with his son, in ways that are decidedly different from the games he would play with a little girl. He can help his son learn to throw and catch a ball. He can teach him to pound a square wooden peg into a square hole in a pegboard. He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a peni$, just like his, only bigger."

http://www2.focusonthefamily.com/docstudy/newsletters/a000000264.cfm

[Balanor]

Governor Palin should keep family business in the family and out of the limelight.

Let the media do their "stupid" thing and expose a "non-issue".

Gov. Palin stated that she is happy that her daughter "chose" to have the child.

That is refreshing!....A Republican VP candidate who is a Pro-Choice woman.

[The Hokey Hockey Mom]

It's not that these things should or shouldn't happen, or won't happen.

But it shows the hole in this sort of lifestyle where one espouses such morality but with a hidden agenda that's really about making themselves feel good. By that I mean they can do whatever they feel like because in their mind it will be all okay with God's forgiveness. If they screw up, then they can tell themselves that it's okay since they're trying to practice "family values" and believe in America, Guns, and God. It's the same old story: hard drinking, wife beating, gun toting, churchgoers.

[pgbsan]

Of course millions of families will relate to this but there is a problem: is it a relation that's good to have? Teen pregnancies are invariably filled with strong emotions that have the potential to rip a family apart, as well as involve friends and other family members, as those families who have been through one know. How would those families understand that Palin is risking national exposure to those strong familial emotions, that privacy will be impossible?

[Sam]

When children have children, it’s largely because nobody is taking care of them; they’re lonely and lost. But we should never point a finger or suggest fault - after all, someone’s feelings might be hurt! And we all know that “feelings” are the most important value - right? Dead wrong.
Dr. Laura

If she can't take care of her family, how can she take care of our country?

[NK]

Oh, the warm, loving families of the Christian Right. Ask any child who's been there how warm and loving it is if you're gay, or if you get an abortion, or if you think seriously about a non-Protestant world view. You'll be forgiven for such "transgressions." How patronizing! Here's hoping Bristol gets lots of love and support from her mother to be the kind of woman SHE wants to be.

[Jon K.]

Palin is a hypocrite AND lacks the skill and ability to be president. It's that simple.

[Gerry]

Perhaps the Palin family, should have thought about their daughter before taking the job of Vice Presidental candidate. How any mother and father would put their 17 year old through this ordeal, knowing full well that this was the circumstance, and knowing full well that it would be covered in the media no matter what....is beyond my comprehension.

I find this to be a case of bad parenting all around. Yes...it does happen and it happens to good kids. However, those kids aren't usually thrust into the limelight by parents on the campaign trail. For myself, I would forgo the job, and stand behind my child through a difficult time becominig a mother at age 17.

[Happy2BLiberal]

I wonder if poor Bristol had any form of sex education in school. If she had, she might have been able to prevent this pregnancy. No matter how many times you go to church and Bible study, you can't stop yourself from being human. You might be able to slow yourself down. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Just ask McCain and his lobbyist girlfriend.

[chalres]

Dobson: "...we have offered prayer, counseling and resource assistance to tens of thousands of parents and children in the same situation that the Palins are now facing."

Um, what he meant to say was: "...for decades we have fought tooth and nail to legislate forced childbirth for women in this situation."

[Billy Bobb]

The first Redneck Twins in the White-Trash House?

What are Redneck Twins? Well, they happen when you have a child and a grandchild in the same year!

[chuck]

I support Obama and people from both sides should leave this alone.
I applaud her decision to keep this baby, in my opinion it is always the right thing to do in this situation.

[Patrick]

I think that it's perfectly legitimate to ask Gov. Palin whether, in light of her family's circumstances, she will reconsider her opposition to what she derides as "explicit" sex education in the schools.

[Julia]

Behind the media's comments, I get the feeling most people think it would be better for Gov Palin's career if her daughter was just taken to a clinic and had the unborn child taken care of. That's what this is all about. Spare the embarrasment, just go to a clinic and have an abortion.

[chad]

"We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents," Sarah Palin, 44, and her husband said in the statement.

In McCain and Palin's America, women young and old will not be able to make that decision.

[George]

This is none of anyone's business--as long as the GOP drops the religious right "values" garbage. But as soon as they utter one more word about "values," as soon as they utter one more lie about Barack Obama being a Muslim, as soon as we see John McCain refuse to reject the endorsement of "ministers" who preach a Gospel of intolerance, as long as the right attacks anyone for not following "Biblical" values and morals, then Bristol Palin is fair game.

Now we can see whether the right and the GOP practice what they preach. Remember, the Biblical penalty for premarital sex is death by stoning.

And don't tell us that Jesus never said a word about this. He also never said a word about homosexuality, and that never stopped the right from screeching about the Old Testament.

[Ginger K.]

If John McCain vetted this woman, knew of her troubled past and family, and still wanted her as V.P., I think that is cause for concern about his ability to make good decisions on behalf of this country. Let the woman take of her family and her special needs child and then try for big time politics a few years down the line. Remember when Karen Hughes left Washington because her teenage son was so unhappy? That was honorable.

[Kwame BK]

See, it is not about the kid and the fact that she is pregnant or whether she should keep it or abort it, it is about judgment, which tells us about the ability to lead!

John McCain said he was aware of the kid's pregnancy and yet went ahead and picked Mrs. Palin, knowing full well the kind of media scrutiny he was subjecting the kid to. Is this becoming of a parent and a potential commander-in-chief?

Mrs. Palin obviously also knew about the pregnancy but went ahead and accepted the offer, also knowing full well the consequences of her actions and its detriments to this poor kid. What does this tell us about her judgment? Is this putting her family first? Can she really say she is a good mom?

That the kid is pregnant and wants to keep the baby is no big deal. What is big deal is the judgment of the adults involved in putting their careers first.

[David Blackburn]

It seems that Senator McCain was trying to hide this news from the Republican delegates! When exactly was he planning on springing the news on them?

There should be a new theme song for the Republican convention:
“We're Puttin' White Trash in the White House!”
“We're Puttin' White Trash in the White House!”
“We're Puttin' White Trash in the White House!”
“We're Puttin' White Trash in the White House!”
“We're Puttin' White Trash in the White House!”
“We're Puttin' White Trash in the White House!”
“We're Puttin' White Trash in the White House!”
“We're Puttin' White Trash in the White House!”