Sarah Palin, McCain, And Republican Family Values

Palin is embroiled in another crisis, a more personal one; her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. The Republicans have often been unforgiving when denouncing teen pregnancies in African American and Latino communities. Might it be a sign that Republicans should consider broadening their definition of "family values."

[Publisher’s Commentary: Election 2008]

John McCain is clearly not fit to be president of the United States of America.

His judgment is severely flawed. The President cannot be so reckless to the extreme. It was  recklessness and absence of proper vetting in the first place that led us into the Iraq quagmire that’s already cost nearly $800 billion, thousands of U.S. lives and untold Iraqi losses.

John McCain has been denigrating Senator Barack Obama for more than 18 months now; saying he’s not experienced enough to be president.

Throughout, Obama has demonstrated that he has superior judgment; that’s why he was elected by Democrats, independents and some Republicans to carry his party’s flag in the general election.

On the other hand, McCain last week panicked when the Democrats emerged unified from their Convention and Obama made the speech of a lifetime.

Hoping to still try and capture female voters disappointed that Hillary Clinton wasn’t Obama’s running mate, McCain in a cynical and patronizing move, rushed to announce that he’d selected Sarah Palin, governor of tiny Alaska as his running mate; he’d only met her once before offering her the position.

There were many other qualified and experienced female Republicans, including Elizabeth Dole or Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. McCain decided to select someone with minimal experience, and someone who was clearly not properly vetted and whom he could overshadow.

This is the one time it wasn’t good to be a “maverick.” Now something unpleasant is beginning to hit the fan.

McCain is 72 himself, and he has been dealing with skin cancer; so Alaska Governor Palin’s chances of becoming president is not negligible.

There is a good reason why the country has a Vice President. So that in case something happens to the president, the VP steps in. Doesn’t McCain care about national security? It is worth trying to win by any means necessary?

Palin is not ready to pick up that phone at 3 AM in case of a national emergency. How could McCain punish this innocent governor by offering her the VP slot when she is not ready to deal with the serious economic crisis at home and war on two fronts –Iraq and Afghanistan?

Moreover, Palin cannot focus on the presidential elections and the upcoming debates since, in Alaska, she is undergoing an ethics investigation for alleged abuse of power in connection with the firing of Alaska’s police chief; he had reportedly refused to fire Palin’s former brother in law, a state trooper, who was feuding with Palin’s sister and other family members.

Does McCain have so much disregard for due process of the law that he simply ignored the Alaska investigation?

And now Palin is embroiled in another crisis, a more personal one; her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. While this issue is arguably a “personal” family matter, Palin and the McCain campaign issued a news release confirming the information.

Moreover, it’s hard to see how this cannot be a distraction since the Republicans always preach a puritanical and unforgiving form of “family values.” Republicans –especially the evangelical Christians— have often been unforgiving when denouncing teen pregnancies in African American and Latino communities: Republicans generally dismiss societal and soci-economic conditions and claim bad parenting and immorality are the primary causes.

McCain, in tapping Palin, had hoped to shore up his credentials with these evangelical purists. It is a curious way to accomplish this goal.

Senator Obama has correctly called upon his supporters not to drag Palin’s pregnant 17 year old daughter into the campaign. Whether McCain likes it or not the unforgiving moral “purist” may not be that accommodating.

Perhaps the lesson here is that zealotry sometimes backfires.

Might it be a sign that Republicans should consider broadening their definition of “family values.”

 

To comment or to subscribe to or advertise in New York’s leading Pan African weekly investigative newspaper, or to send us a news tip, please call (212) 481-7745 or send a note to [email protected]

Also visit out sister publications Harlem Business News www.harlembusinessnews.com and The Groove music magazine at www.thegroovemag.com

“Speaking Truth To Empower.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *