U.S. Elections 2008: General Elections -- Analysis and Commentary

[Lemur]

A couple of miniature, bite-sized scandalettes:

Palin apparently believes that the Founding Fathers wrote the Pledge of Allegiance. She also believes that marriage is defined in the Constitution.

Do you support the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling that spousal benefits for state employees should be given to same-sex couples? Why or why not?

SP: No, I believe spousal benefits are reserved for married citizens as defined in our constitution.

Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

She also belongs to the Alaska Independence Party, a group with secessionist aims. From their 2008 platform:

The Alaskan Independence Party's goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four alternatives:

1) Remain a Territory.
2) Become a separate and Independent Nation.
3) Accept Commonwealth status.
4) Become a State.

[...] The call for this vote is in furtherance of the dream ... to achieve independence.

Oh, and her opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere" was just to the physical bridge itself. The money was okay by her, and she made sure Alaska got it.

Gov. Sarah Palin was for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" before she was against it, a change of position the GOP vice presidential running mate ignored Saturday when she bragged about telling Congress "thanks but no thanks" to the pork barrel project. [...]

"If our state wanted a bridge, I said we'd build it ourselves," she said.

She didn't talk that way when she was running for governor. The Anchorage Daily News quoted her on Oct. 22, 2006, as saying yes, she would continue state funding for the bridge because she wanted swift action on infrastructure projects. "The window is now while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist," she said. [...]

According to the Ketchikan Daily News, the bridge issue came up on Sept. 20, 2006, during an appearance the gubernatorial candidates made in Ketchikan.

"The money that's been appropriated for the project, it should remain available for a link, an access process as we continue to evaluate the scope and just how best to just get this done," the newspaper quoted Palin as saying. "This link is a commitment to help Ketchikan expand its access, to help this community prosper."

The newspaper also reported that she said "I think we're going to make a good team as we progress that bridge project."

None of this is a deal-breaker, but it's also stuff McCain would have known had he properly vetted Palin.

[m52nickerson]

Now, how much does experience matter?

I think that there is a certain level of experience and or education level needed for someone to be trusted in the Oval Office. I see McCain, Obama and Biden having that level. I don't think Palin does.

I don't see 20 months as governor of the a state with less then a million people and a degree in communications as enough.

[Lemur]

Mmm, and don't forget that Alaska has so much oil money that they never have to worry about balancing their own budget. It's unlike any other state in that way. A well-groomed schnauser could govern Alaska and not do much harm.

[ICantSpellDawg]

She also believes that marriage is defined in the Constitution.

[indent]Do you support the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling that spousal benefits for state employees should be given to same-sex couples? Why or why not?

SP: No, I believe spousal benefits are reserved for married citizens as defined in our constitution.

She meant the Alaskan Constitution - which recognizes marriage as between a man and a woman.
http://ltgov.state.ak.us/constitution.php?section=1

Here's a funny article on some of the many Obama Gaffes.

Link

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Barack Gaffes
The Obama machine.

By Michelle Malkin

All it takes is one gaffe to taint a Republican for life. The political establishment never let Dan Quayle live down his fateful misspelling of “potatoe.” The New York Times distorted and misreported the first President Bush’s questions about new scanner technology at a grocers’ convention to brand him permanently as out of touch.

But what about Barack Obama? The guy’s a perpetual gaffe machine. Let us count the ways, large and small, that his tongue has betrayed him throughout the campaign:

Last May, he claimed that tornadoes in Kansas killed a whopping 10,000 people: “In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed.” The actual death toll: 12.

Earlier this month in Oregon, he redrew the map of the United States: “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.”

Last week, in front of a roaring Sioux Falls, S.D., audience, Obama exulted: “Thank you, Sioux City. ... I said it wrong. I’ve been in Iowa for too long. I’m sorry.”

Explaining last week why he was trailing Hillary Clinton in Kentucky, Obama again botched basic geography: “Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it’s not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle.” On what map is Arkansas closer to Kentucky than Illinois?

Obama has as much trouble with numbers as he has with maps. Last March, on the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Ala., he claimed his parents united as a direct result of the civil rights movement: “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Ala., because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born.”

Obama was born in 1961. The Selma march took place in 1965. His spokesman, Bill Burton, later explained that Obama was “speaking metaphorically about the civil-rights movement as a whole.”

Earlier this month in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Obama showed off his knowledge of the war in Afghanistan by homing in on a lack of translators: “We only have a certain number of them, and if they are all in Iraq, then it’s harder for us to use them in Afghanistan.” The real reason it’s “harder for us to use them” in Afghanistan: Iraqis speak Arabic or Kurdish. The Afghanis speak Pashto, Farsi, or other non-Arabic languages.

Over the weekend in Oregon, Obama pleaded ignorance of the decades-old, multibillion-dollar massive Hanford nuclear-waste cleanup: “Here’s something that you will rarely hear from a politician, and that is that I’m not familiar with the Hanford, uuuuhh, site, so I don’t know exactly what’s going on there. (Applause.) Now, having said that, I promise you I’ll learn about it by the time I leave here on the ride back to the airport.”

I assume on that ride, a staffer reminded him that he’s voted on at least one defense-authorization bill that addressed the “costs, schedules, and technical issues” dealing with the nation’s most contaminated nuclear-waste site.

Last March, the Chicago Tribune reported this little-noticed nugget about a fake autobiographical detail in Obama’s Dreams from My Father: “Then, there’s the copy of Life magazine that Obama presents as his racial awakening at age 9. In it, he wrote, was an article and two accompanying photographs of an African-American man physically and mentally scarred by his efforts to lighten his skin. In fact, the Life article and the photographs don’t exist, say the magazine’s own historians.”

And in perhaps the most seriously troubling set of gaffes of them all, Obama told a Portland crowd over the weekend that Iran doesn’t “pose a serious threat to us” — cluelessly arguing that “tiny countries” with small defense budgets can’t do us harm — and then promptly flip-flopped the next day, claiming, “I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.”

Barack Obama — promoted by the Left and the media as an all-knowing, articulate, transcendent Messiah — is a walking, talking gaffe machine. How many more passes does he get? How many more can we afford?

[ICantSpellDawg]

Mmm, and don't forget that Alaska has so much oil money that they never have to worry about balancing their own budget. It's unlike any other state in that way. A well-groomed schnauser could govern Alaska and not do much harm.

You are funny. You play un-biased in order to sound reasonable when you are just as partisan as the rest of us, but more coy about it.

[Strike For The South]

You are funny. You play un-biased in order to sound reasonable when you are just as partisan as the rest of us, but more coy about it.

But he right. It was just like running Texas in the 70s when opec decided to get uppity. money makes allot of social ills go away.

[m52nickerson]

You are funny. You play un-biased in order to sound reasonable when you are just as partisan as the rest of us, but more coy about it.

....but his point does go to the point that not all the Governor offices are equal.

[Lemur]

And if my partisanship is all you've got left to argue about, Tuff, I'd say you're clicking on an empty magazine. Time to reload.

-edit-

Oh wow, Michelle Malkin has a hit piece on Obama? Shocking, I say! Boy, it sure is a good thing that two seconds with Google doesn't turn up the exact same thing for McCain. Oh, wait, it does. Funny that. And it's not even from a partisan hack's blog! Quality stuff!

McCain gaffes pile up; critics pile on
By: Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei
July 22, 2008 01:10 PM EST

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said “Iraq” on Monday when he apparently meant “Afghanistan”, adding to a string of mixed-up word choices that is giving ammunition to the opposition.

Just in the past three weeks, McCain has also mistaken "Somalia" for "Sudan," and even football’s Green Bay Packers for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ironically, the errors have been concentrated in what should be his area of expertise: foreign affairs.

McCain will turn 72 the day after Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) accepts his party’s nomination for president at the age of 47, calling new attention to the sensitive issue of McCain’s advanced age three days before the start of his own convention.

The McCain campaign says Obama has had plenty of flubs of his own, including a reference to "57 states" and a string of misstated place names during the primaries that Republicans gleefully sent around as YouTube links.

McCain aides point out that he spends much more time than Obama talking extemporaneously, taking questions from voters and reporters. "Being human and tripping over your tongue occasionally doesn't mean a thing," a top McCain official said.

But McCain's mistakes raise a serious, if uncomfortable question: Are the gaffes the result of his age? And what could that mean in the Oval Office?

Voters, thinking about their own relatives, can be expected to scrutinize McCain’s debate performances for signs of slippage.

Every voter has a parent, grandparent or a friend whose mental acuity declined as they grew older. It happens at different times for different people — and there is ample evidence many people in their 70s are as sharp and fit as ever.

In McCain’s case, his medical records, public appearances and travel schedule have suggested he remains at the top of his game.

But his liberal critics have been pouncing on every misstatement as a sign that he’s an old man.

Late-night comics have made McCain’s age an almost nightly topic, with CBS’s David Letterman getting a laugh just about any time he says the words “McCain” and “nap” in the same sentence.

Last week, McCain tried to defuse the issue by pretending to doze off during an appearance on NBC’s "Late Night with Conan O’Brien."

Republicans would like to make the case that McCain is seasoned and Obama is a callow newcomer to the public stage. But that’ll be harder if he keeps up the verbal slips, which make it easier for comedians and critics to pile on.

“First Gaffe of Obama Trip ... Goes To McCain,” blared Monday afternoon’s banner headline on the left-leaning Huffington Post, accompanied by a photo of McCain appearing to slap his forehead.

That referred to an ABCNews.com posting asserting that McCain appeared to confuse Iraq and Afghanistan in a “Good Morning America” interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, who asked whether the "the situation in Afghanistan is precarious and urgent.”

McCain responded: “I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border." The ABC posting added: “Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border. Afghanistan and Pakistan do.”

Unfortunately for McCain, that wasn’t an isolated slip. Among the other lapses:

• “Somalia” for “Sudan”: As recounted in a reporter’s pool report from McCain’s Straight Talk Express bus on June 30, the senator said while discussing Darfur, a region of Sudan: "How can we bring pressure on the government of Somalia?"

Senior adviser Mark Salter corrected him: “Sudan.”

• “Germany” for “Russia”: A YouTube clip from last year memorializes McCain referring to Vladimir Putin of Russia — following a trip to Germany — as “President Putin of Germany.”

• This spring, McCain said troops in Iraq were “down to pre-surge levels” when in fact there were 20,000 more troops than when the surge policy began.

• Also this spring, McCain twice appeared to mistake Sunnis and Shiites, two branches of Islam that split violently.

• In Phoenix earlier this month, McCain referred to Czechoslovakia, which has been divided since Jan. 1, 1993, into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He also referred to Czechoslovakia during a debate in November and a radio show in April.

• In perhaps the most curious incident, McCain said earlier this month that as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he had tried to confuse his captors by giving the names of Pittsburgh Steelers starting players when asked to identify his squadron mates. McCain has told the story many times over the years — but always correctly referred to the names he gave as members of the Green Bay Packers.

[ICantSpellDawg]

....but his point does go to the point that not all the Governor offices are equal.

They aren't all equal, you're right. Look how great a job Bush did with his population of 23 Million Texans.

Lemur, Is it your position that Sarah Palin is unsuitable for the office of VP?
Are you for Obama now, can you admit that he is the candidate that you have chosen in this election?

[Lemur]

An excellent point, Tuff. Bush was, by most accounts, an acceptable governor of a large, diverse and difficult state. Admittedly, he liked to execute retarded people, but nobody's perfect.

So how does this reflect on this long, tedious argument about experience? Shouldn't George W. Bush have been a fantastic President with that pedigree? And who had more experience than Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld? By the yardsticks you're using, surely the last eight years should have been a triumph of seasoned, mature, reasonable, stable leadership.

The lesson I take away is to beware of ideologues and idealists. They'll **** you every time. Stick to pragmatists and moderates, and you'll make out okay.

Lemur, Is it your position that Sarah Palin is unsuitable for the office of VP? Are you for Obama now, can you admit that he is the candidate that you have chosen in this election?

My point is that I don't know, neither do you, and neither did McCain when he picked her. This politico from Northern Exposure was not fact-checked, was not vetted, and represents a large gamble on the part of McCain. It's ballsy, but also risky as hell. She makes the base as happy as catnip, sure, but there are a mountain of unknowns about her.

As for how I'm leaning, let me tell you a little something, kid. I was 100% for McCain in 2000. I gave him money, put out a yardsign, pretty much devoted myself to him. I liked who he was and what he was doing. I thought Bush was an unserious person who should not be allowed within 100 miles of the White House.

Anyway, that's ancient history. The McCain I'm seeing now is bearing less and less resemblance to the man I gave money to and campaigned for. This is kind of sad to me. Seems like every jerk and parasite from the George W. Bush admin is latching onto him. Just look at how the authoritarians in the Backroom have flocked to his standard.

I'm not thrilled with Obama. He has real weaknesses, and he's a gamble. Not anything close to the gamble George W. Bush was, but a hedged gamble nonetheless. I'll admit though, I found the never-ending parade of nonsense attacks on him nothing short of infuriating. This should be a serious election, not another silly one.

That's a peek inside my head. If it would make you more ... comfortable to decry me as a fanatical Obama believer who can't walk straight because I have so many stars in my eyes, go right ahead.

[Strike For The South]

They aren't all equal, you're right. Look how great a job Bush did with his population of 23 Million Texans.

Lemur, Is it your position that Sarah Palin is unsuitable for the office of VP?

yea he did damn good job as governor. He took a Texas education agency which was horrible and made it actually kind of respectable, We had a surplus, He was one of the leading proponent of wind energy and natural gas extraction which is weaning west Texas of oil. Texas was a better state when he left it. All this goes to show is experience doesn't mean jack. For Obama or Palin or anyone

[ICantSpellDawg]

The lesson I take away is to beware of ideologues and idealists. They'll **** you every time. Stick to pragmatists and moderates, and you'll make out okay.

Do you believe that Obama is a moderate? I believe that McCain is a moderate, but I believe that Obama is an ideologue and an idealist.

[Lemur]

I believe that Obama is an ideologue and an idealist.

Keep reading your National Review, watching Fox News and clicking on Michelle Malkin, and that's all you're ever going to believe. If that's what makes you comfortable, have fun.

[ICantSpellDawg]

Keep reading your National Review, watching Fox News and clicking on Michelle Malkin, and that's all you're ever going to believe. If that's what makes you comfortable, have fun.

You believe that he is a moderate? Even though he has never voted against his party interest. Maybe he will transform in his presidency because he just used the Democratic party to get into power. I wouldn't mind that, it happens all the time.

When I call you partisan, I don't mean that you are a Democratic Party die-hard. I mean it in the strictest sense. You are firmly in the Obama camp, not because he is a democrat or that you are a hardcore liberal, but that you have picked your side in a clash between two "parties" - those for Obama vs. those for McCain. Democrat/Republican is irrelevant in the strict definition.

I am partisan - I am for McCain in this contest unless he does something unconscionable. Can you admit who you are for yet? That is a part of honesty and truth too.

PS - I don't like or read Malkin since she attacked the Pope relentlessly for going against the war and a bunch of other things. Her article just summed up a few of the gaffes going around so I posted it. I also don't read the National Review unless one of their articles is on RealClearPolitics. I am a conservative I freely admit, but I don't just go after the talking points.

[Lemur]

Yeah, fair enough. I've decided against McCain, and it's not for any of the reasons that have been discussed here. It's age. I just don't like the risk of a man that age being asked to do that big of a job. The problem is that you can get nutty in your seventies and not even know it.

2000 was McCain's year, and if Bush/Rove hadn't slimed him out of it, he would have been a fantastic President. We'd be celebrating the end of his final service to the nation right about now. But in 2008 I think he's too old.

This, for me, is the deal-breaker.

-edit-

P.S.: That said, I still would have taken him gladly over Clinton or Giuliani. That would have been a no-brainer. I'd take the risk of a mentally declining President over an authoritarian any day of the week. But since I have a high estimation of both McCain and Obama, I'll take the man at he peak of his powers as opposed to the man in decline.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Hot damn, Palin's 17 year old daughter is pregnant:
http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/2008...in_daughter_10

Palin says 17-year-old daughter is pregnant

ST. PAUL, Minn. – John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin said Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, an announcement campaign aides said was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's.

A statement released by the campaign said that Bristol Palin will keep her baby and marry the child's father. Bristol Palin's baby is due in late December.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents," Sarah and Todd Palin said in the brief statement.

The disclosure of the pregnancy came on the opening day of the Republican National Convention, scaled back because of Hurricane Gustav, and three days after McCain named Palin as his running mate. Other news was likely to overshadow the disclosure.

The internet blogs fired off a shot of crazy and actually came in the vicinity of the truth. This will only make them more crazy. Reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon.

And McCain's experience is almost entirely legislative as well, he hasn't been mayor of anything. And none of them have been President before, so you could legitimately say that they're all unqualified, and the only people with real experience are George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter. Maybe they can rule together?

What about slick Willy? And yes, I don't like the fact that the rest of the candidates are Senators.

CR

[Xiahou]

Hot damn, Palin's 17 year old daughter is pregnant:
http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/2008...in_daughter_10

I guess Sarah is the mother of baby Trig afterall, who'd have guessed?
It'll be interesting to see what track the Democrats take with her daughter's pregnancy. I think they had better be careful about using a 17 year old girl in their attacks. The risk of backlash would be high.

I'll admit though, I found the never-ending parade of nonsense attacks on him nothing short of infuriating. This should be a serious election, not another silly one.

Look in the mirror lately? Go read your last few posts. Trolling up Palin attacks from liberal blogs and then having the stones to criticize others for referencing conservative ones...

[Lemur]

Ah, I was wondering when we would hear from our resident True Believer. Feel free to note the "liberal blogs" I've been linking to to support my points, friend.

[Xiahou]

Ah, I was wondering when we would hear from our resident True Believer. Feel free to note the "liberal blogs" I've been linking to to support my points, friend.

Nevermind, you've obviously googled up all of your petty attacks independently and didn't pick them up from blogs. It's just a coincidence- Im certain.

Of course, then there are the one's you don't even source at all- like the Alaska Independence Party claim. Newsflash, she's a Republican.
Following your previously stated logic, I expect you'll soon start sticking up for Palin as you play Devil's Advocate in response to your own "nonsense" attacks.

[Lemur]

My point is that I don't know, neither do you, and neither did McCain when he picked her. This politico from Northern Exposure was not fact-checked, was not vetted, and represents a large gamble on the part of McCain. It's ballsy, but also risky as hell. She makes the base as happy as catnip, sure, but there are a mountain of unknowns about her.

That is the reason all of these micro-scandals are important, devoted rightwing footsoldier. Admit it -- McCain didn't vet her, didn't check her background, etc. If you're willing to 'fess up to that, what does it say?

And you're right, of course, how could anyone ever tie Palin to the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party? That's just left-wing crazytalk.

[ICantSpellDawg]

That is the reason all of these micro-scandals are important, devoted rightwing footsoldier. Admit it -- McCain didn't vet her, didn't check her background, etc. If you're willing to 'fess up to that, what does it say?

And you're right, of course, how could anyone ever tie Palin to the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party? That's just left-wing crazytalk.

Well; McCain said that he knew that her daughter was pregnant, The FBI did a background check and his counsel consistently pushed Palin for VP behind closed doors, she has a public record, etc. What do you mean by "vetted"?

Also, she consistently refers to the party as "your party" and how it is good to have competition between parties in Alaska. Did you watch the video? She is clearly a Republican. She was a member of the party before she became mayor of Wasila. The "party platform" does not include secession. Some democrats want Gay marriage. Is it fair to say that they all do? It is essentially a state's right party. Are they radically racist, violent or horrible in some way? Are you going to try to make the party into the KKK or the Communist party?

[Xiahou]

That is the reason all of these micro-scandals are important, devoted rightwing footsoldier. Admit it -- McCain didn't vet her, didn't check her background, etc. If you're willing to 'fess up to that, what does it say?

I have no idea how well the McCain campaign vetted her. Unless his staff is completely incompetent, I would imagine that they did quite a bit.

I think I see where you're coming from though- Since you don't think she was vetted, you see it as your civic duty to throw all the mud you can at her in the hopes that some of it sticks. How noble of you. That's totally different than people making wild claims about Obama.

And you're right, of course, how could anyone ever tie Palin to the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party? That's just left-wing crazytalk.

So what part of the following is true again?

She also belongs to the Alaska Independence Party, a group with secessionist aims.

[Lemur]

I have no idea how well the McCain campaign vetted her. Unless his staff is completely incompetent, I would imagine that they did quite a bit.

"Quite a bit" is an interesting phrase. Could mean something, could mean nothing.

So what part of the following is true again?

She may not claim them, but they claim her. It's an arguable point, and I'm not going to defend it to death, but I wasn't spouting complete nonsense, as you seem to believe.

So have you contributed to McCain/Palin yet, Xiahou?

[Crazed Rabbit]

I guess Sarah is the mother of baby Trig afterall, who'd have guessed?

Uh, actually I don't think she is.

CR

[ICantSpellDawg]

Uh, actually I don't think she is.

CR

Yea me neither. If it wasn't Bristol's maybe she got the baby from somewhere else? Maybe Trigg is her mothers baby and Sarah jealously wanted another baby and used her gubernatorial power to steal her new brother and erase her mother's memory. I'm sure this can be corroborated by fact or at the very least outright lies and disturbing conjecture.

[Xiahou]

She may not claim them, but they claim her. It's an arguable point, and I'm not going to defend it to death, but I wasn't spouting complete nonsense, as you seem to believe.

Congratulations, I watched almost 5 minutes of that looking for where they claimed her as a member before stopping it.... It is nonsense, because she isn't a member. She's a member of the Republican party- it's not like this is privileged information or anything. The only thing anyone has come up with is her addressing their party via video where she tries to point out common ground on love of the state and respect for the Constitution, ect. Seeing as the AIP actually had their candidate as governor previously, I think I could understand a politician making at least some effort to woo a few of their voters.

I had thought, just maybe, after all of your bemoaning of "baseless" attacks against Obama that you might be willing to dig just a little bit deeper before trotting out attacks on another candidate. But, you're free to act however you want.

So have you contributed to McCain/Palin yet, Xiahou?

Nope, nor will I. I've never donated money to any political campaign. If I'm going to give away my hard earned money, I can think of many other more worthy causes than a politician. However, if Palin holds up over the next couple months, I may end up voting for the ticket.

[Lemur]

They talk about Palin at the 6 minute mark. Claim her as theirs at 6:20.

ABC's Jake Tapper asks an amusing question:

What would the response be if Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and his wife Michelle had a pregnant unmarried teenage daughter?

Would it be possible for me to get a simulated response from DevDave?

[ICantSpellDawg]

They talk about Palin at the 6 minute mark. Claim her as theirs at 6:20.

ABC's Jake Tapper asks an amusing question:

What would the response be if Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and his wife Michelle had a pregnant unmarried teenage daughter?

Would it be possible for me to get a simulated response from DevDave?

I would freak because his daughters are like 10 and 13. Obama mentioned the reality that his own mother gave birth to him at 18. It'd probably not be the best decision to consciously make at that age, but it is much better than the alternative of killing the child.

I'd probably give them credit for not suggesting that their daughter kill their grandchild. I'd only make a big deal out of it if their parents encouraged them to have sex or put the baby there...

You can't control your kids - they make their own choices in life. Sometimes those choices are big and bring children into the mix. You can speculate all you'd like that the pro-lifers on this board would ridicule Obama and make him seem like a degenerate. Maybe we'd even post the story in all of our callous and low class taste?

[Lemur]

Here's another one of them liberal blogs that gets Xiahou's dander up. Good advice, though, for some of the conservatives on this board who like to bang on about the "empty suit."

Can we conservatives please stop kidding ourselves about Barack Obama's "qualifications"? Yes, if I had been a Democratic donor back in 2006, I'd sure worry about whether Barack Obama had what it took to be president. That was before he took on the toughest political operation in America, before he beat Bill and Hillary Clinton, before he won 18 million primary votes.

Obama's nomination was not handed to him. He fought hard for it and won against the odds. "Qualifications" predict achievement. Once you have achieved, it doesn't matter what your qualifications are. Who cares whether the guy who built a big company from nothing didn't have much of a resume when he started? But if you are applying to run a big company built by somebody else, the resume matters ...

The worst mistake in any fight is to under-estimate your opponent's abilities. Look what happened to the people who under-estimated Reagan. If conservatives are to have any hope in the coming weeks, we should wake up to the fact that we face in Barack Obama a formidable man, who appeals to something important and deep in the American electorate. He's not a superman, he has vulnerabilities, he can be beaten. But he won't be beaten until we who are trying to beat him understand why and how he has come so far ...

[KukriKhan]

Obama mentioned the reality that his own mother gave birth to him at 18.

Just to expand a bit on TuffStuffMcGruff's observation, HERE's the text of his statement on the matter:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

“I have heard some of the news on this and so let me be a 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,” the Democrat said forcefully. “It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as governor, or her potential performance as a VP. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories,” he continued.

The candidate who himself was born to a teenage mom, reminded reporters, “You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and you know teenage children, that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that’s off limits.”

When asked about an “unnamed McCain advisor” accusing the Obama campaign of spreading despicable rumors surrounding Bristol Palin online, Obama interrupted the reporter mid-question. “I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us,” he said directly. “Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I ever thought that it was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that - they’d be fired,” he added.

With that, Obama boarded his airport-bound bus to head to Milwaukee for a rally.

Gets high marks from me for that, although, if I'd been him I'd have added: "... - they'd be fired and referred for possible prosecution ." Such a sentence would have nailed down his 100% opposition to the tactic, so he wouldn't sound like GWB a year or so ago with "Scooter-gate".