To those still stuck on the Bristol Palin pregnancy thing.

[Xithras]

I was a teen parent. When I was 17 and my then-girlfriend was 15, she became pregnant because of a single night of drunken stupidity. Was it irresponsible? Of course, but irregardless of how it happened, we became parents at 18 and 16.Over this last long weekend, I've largely avoided the Palin pregnancy threads here on DU because they've left a very poor taste in my mouth. I've seen posts here on DU, and on other progressive sites, that have essentially labeled teen parents as stupid, or who have attacked the grandparents for poor parenting skills. Still, I said nothing because I thought it "needed to be done". My opinion on that has now changed.

Before teaching my morning class today, I struck up a conversation with another of our faculty. She's a black woman, very afro-centric, and a strong Obama supporter...until now. Once I brought up the Palin daughter thing, she went livid. Whether intended or not, she has perceived the attacks on Palin and her pregnant daughter to be a (and I quote) "typical holier than thou moralizing by a bunch of uppity white activists". It was apparently a big topic of conversation among her friends over the weekend, and they are almost universally pissed over this. As she put it: "These stupid bloggers forget that blacks watch CNN and have Internet access too".

So why the hostility? Simple. 13% of the babies born in the United States are born to teen mothers. African Americans make up 25% of that total, a number wholly disproportionate to their portion of the population. In fact, by some estimates, one in four African American children are birthed by a teen mother. Virtually EVERY African American family either has a teen mother in some branch, or knows one well. It's certainly not a situation that anyone likes, but teen pregnancy is a fairly mainstream thing in the African American community.

Of course, this isn't just an African American thing. If a quarter of the teen births are to black mothers, three quarters obviously belong to the rest of the racial groups in this country, primarily among its poorest (and most Democratic) populations. Whites, Latinos, Asians, and other racial groups all have constituent populations that have high rates of teen pregnancy.

WHETHER INTENDED OR NOT, these attacks are being interpreted in some portions of our own constituencies as an attack on teen mothers, and the parents of teen mothers. These claims that Palin is unfit because her daughter is pregnant is being interpreted as a statement that ANY parent with a pregnant kid is somehow "sullied". The statements that the daughter is reckless and irresponsible are being taken as an affront by many of those who were teen parents themselves, or who know an love those people. We're talking about DEMOCRATS here.

While it can be tempting to sling any mud we can find, let's keep the GOAL in mind here. We want to get Obama elected. EVERY attack needs to be weighed in that light. Will attacking Palin over a pregnant daughter gain us voters? Or will it alienate core Democratic constituencies? What's the upside, and how does it compare to the potential downside? More importantly, how do those actions reflect on our core liberal values of tolerance and acceptance?

These attacks have little upside, and the potential to cause a lot of harm. I'm convinced that THIS is why Obama came out against the topic. He is smart enough to realize the damage these attacks could do to both our party and his campaign. As a black man, I'm sure he also realized how perceived attacks on teen mothers could be interpreted within the African American community. One in four is a big number, and many of those children are voting black adults today...attacking someones mother (whether that attack is real or perceived) is not a good way to win their vote. As for tolerance and acceptance? Moralizing and calling teen mothers irresponsible isn't a very tolerant or accepting way to treat them, and it's pretty damned rude on top of that.

The subject is a loser. Palin has enough real issues to attack her over, so it's time to let this one go.

[Bonobo]

1. "It's the Vetting, Stupid!" is a good and true one-liner in this case. nt

[Richardo]

2. Excellent post.

The foamers on our side who want to ride this thing to the ground like Slim Pickens in 'Dr Strangelove' need to ask themselves: "What use is it to try to persuade those who will never be persuaded, if it alienates supporters who no longer want to support?" This is the wisdom of Obama's comments yesterday asking that family issues be off limits.


K&R :patriot:

[dkf]

3. The problem is mostly that she actively discouraged her daughter from

using any type of birth control. In this day and age, abstinence education is such a pie in the sky attitude to take.

[Xithras]

5. Perception, not intent, is the important thing.

As the old saying goes: The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions. I'd personally prefer to avoid four more years of Republican hell.

The validity of the argument, or the intent of the arguer, aren't really important here anymore. People are interpreting this as an attack on teen mothers and their families. Whether that's caused by a poorly delivered message or media spin isn't really important. What IS important is the perception that we are now attacking significant portions of OUR OWN PARTY.

This is what my dad used to call a "scattergun argument" You may be aiming at Palin, and may in fact be hitting her. Unfortunately, scatterguns have a wide spray and can take down unrelated people who simply happen to be in the same area. That's what's happening here.

The message is lost in the perception.

[TwilightGardener]

4. Sarah Palin, in her debut speech: "Look at ME, I didn't abort my infant, I'm a Hockey Mom, I should

be VP because of my motherhood!" Sarah Palin, three days later: "Can't my family have some privacy? Only pay attention to my kids when I dangle them in front of you as political props, please." Sorry, she opened her family life up for examination when she used her birthing loins as a reason to lead the free world. I get to judge how good of a job she did. I think she is a piss-poor mother, NOT because her daughter got pregnant, but because she exposed her daughter to the world instead of protecting her.

[Egnever]

6. those still stuck... that would be you no?

[Orsino]

8. I see a lot of complaints about DUers being stuck on the daughter's pregnancy...

...but little remaining evidence of that.

I think we can let it go. Such chatter isn't likely to die off completely just because we want it to, and I see little risk from a few crass posters here.

[Iris]

7. The problem is, this girl's mom promotes abstinence only

AND I very well doubt she believes any support should be given to women like your wife or colleague other than family support when they find themslves in this situation. I can bet you quite a large sum of money that my own mother, who was 2 months pregnant with me when she married my father, wouldn't fall for this shit. She made certain that all 3 of her kids knew where babies came from and how to prevent them. Besides, it's not OBAMA who is expressing the disgust and outrage; it's his supporters, many of whom, like me, are pro-choice AND believe in adequate sex education AND have no problems with social programs supporting women who choose to continue unintended pregnancies. This is just ONE MORE EXAMPLE of their failed policies. Quite honestly, I don't want the "American Family" to be defined as 2 parents who won't/can't stop having kids and their pregnant teenaged children.