Top Republican Governor Has Heard No Talk Of Removing Palin From The Ticket

The New York Times talked to GOP Governor Mark Sanford about Bristol Palin's pregnancy today:

Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina said that he had heard no discussion about removing Ms. Palin from the ticket. In fact, he said, he thought her daughter's pregnancy would not hurt her with voters.

"People are looking for real," he said in an interview. "Real means blemishes, real means warts, real means real. These family imperfections make people say, 'That family isn't so different from my family.'"

Early reaction among women at the Republican convention to the news about Bristol Palin's pregnancy was almost uniformly supportive.

Comments

[puffingtoo]

I am something of a "soccer mom" and I have to day we are a pretty judgemental lot, especially when it comes to mom's not being on the ball when managing their children's lives and allowing them to make such huge mistakes.. Plus, the vast majority of us have aspirations for our daughters well beyond married with a baby at seventeen. Palin is supposed to resonate with us? She scares the crap out of me and I'm pretty sure 99% of the women who would have voted for Hilary. Talk about pandering!!

[MsDoc]

Yes....on all points. Some folks insist on underestimating the intelligence of most women.

[PierreLeClerke]

Forget all the nonsense. Ask the right questions. Who funded this cheerleaders rise to the top of the Oil State?
Thats the real story here. The rest is just fluff!

[Heavenhelpusall]

My guess, Stevens and/or AIP.

[nootrope]

All we heard from the GOP throughout the primaries was how horrible it would be to have Hillary in the White House because of all the drama she and Bill would bring back to the office. "We're tired of the Clinton soap opera and all this drama in the white house," the GOP kept saying.

Well, the hockey mom has only been selected for a few days, and now we've already got more drama than the Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, and All My Children put together, with a healthy dose of Northern Exposure thrown in for good measure. Whatever happened to wanting no drama, republicans?

[white mende man]

Ya forgot "As the Stomach Turns"

[AgathaX]

Let's all think back 24 hours. The reason poor Bristol's pregnancy was announced to begin with was that rumors were circulating that Bristol, and not Sarah Palin, was the biological mother of the Palins' youngest child, Trig. Rather than address the rumor with a simple medical record--they threw Bristol under the bus. They outed her current pregnancy, presumably to suggest that she couldn't have been pregnant with both Trig and the present child. But we don't really know that because we have to take their word on dates. Now, the original story seems to have been completely forgotten and its all about how Bristol is pregnant and how this is nobody's business. WAIT A MINUTE! The Palins have changed the subject very successfully. And we still have no answer. And they've used their own daughter as a human shield of sorts. Let's get back to the original question.

[Heavenhelpusall]

Thank you, Agatha. I have been posting about the cover-up to cover-up the cover-up. No matter what happens, McToken has to go back and face her office in Alaska. She lied to everyone she worked with and her integrity will be worthless.

No one who works with her daily knows she's pregnant?
Dad takes a leave in March?
Five months out of school for mono?
Long flight, driving past hospitals to deliver special needs baby?
Announcement of Downs Syndrome came after birth?
Bristol cares for the baby on the campaign trail?

[AgathaX]

Granted this is a ridiculous topic for an election, but we didn't create the BS, we just spotted it. And BS is always fair game, no matter how "off-topic".

[ernliz]

Thank you for this. Your words help to exhibit how low some people will go simply to vent their partisan political hatred. Actually, it's kind of funny. And sadly incredible that any "educated" American could come up with this!

[rageagainstmachine]

Well actually, this timing is what has me convinced that McCain did NOT know about Bristol's pregnancy until soon after he announced Palin on Friday. If he had known, presumably he and Rove would have managed the news cycle on this versus reacting to the blogsphere. They would have posted the statement coincident with her announcement or on Saturday. The timing looked like a reaction and a scramble.. Not how I expect it would have been handled had he indeed known about this in advance.

[jgalvan]

As a supporter of Senator Obama I must say that the Republican mominee has done something that could work in regards to shifting are attention way from his soft underbelly.
First he chose a under qualified woman to draw all the attention away from the economic issues that should have alone bring down the party in power. Choosing her also addresses some women voters who feel like Hillary was treated unfairly by not naming her as Vice President to his ticket.
I for one did not like the way Hillary ran her campaign after she knew she was not going to win, and mostly because of that comment about Robert Kennedy's assassination and how things could change for her.
However, picking her was probably the best thing to have done for a new Democratic Administration, Senator Biden has not given Senator Obama the bump that he could have probably gotten with her. Again I was no fan of Hillary's.
Now a large portion of our post are directed at ....you guessed it, the kids. I hope that we can all agree that the last 8 years of the Bush Presidency and McCain's promise to keep it up will be enough to get rid of these bums. But we need to stay above all this manure and focus on the real issues. We are in a fight.

[Whatashame]

You guys can trash all you want but the Republicans will steel this election from Obama. I guarantee you that.
You guys can trash all you want but the Republicans will steel this election from Obama. I guarantee you that.
You guys can trash all you want but the Republicans will steel this election from Obama. I guarantee you that.
You guys can trash all you want but the Republicans will steel this election from Obama. I guarantee you that.

[jedonspring]

Again, you spelled 'steal' incorrectly. hehehehehheheheh!

[Veratruth]

You guys can trash all you want but the Republicans will STEAL this election from Obama. I guarantee you that.

[Veratruth]

Did you hear Bush place most of the blame for the Katrina debacle on the governor? I couldn't get him off my TV quick enough.

[Jetling]

"...and I cut my mullet for this?"

This is the Tim Pawlenty quote I want.

[Heavenhelpusall]

This is an illusion. Don't buy the cover-up of the cover-up. Who is Trig's mama? This new pregnancy is a distraction. McToken lied to her administration and the country. The shell game they are playing is shifting the attention from her lie to her teen.

McNixon and gang are laughing. A birth certificate would have refuted any rumors.

[Jetling]

Forget the scandal.

Faking the pregnancy may not be the brightest of plans. But I think's it far better judgement than getting on a plane ride from TX to AK while you're in the process of going into labor.

And that's the story she's sticking with!

[aquarharris688]

You are right. It's not about her daughter and if she is the mother, this is about Sarah Palin's integrity and how she will do or say anything to get McCain elected. As McCain said, "She knows who her boss is." That's the gist of it, McCain thinks that women should fall into place and do what they are told. John McCain does not care about "Country First", it's "McCain First"!

[Veratruth]

If Palin had not been trying to hide her daughter's pregnancy, the other ridiculous rumor would not have surfaced. I think McCain/Rove tricks are beginning to backfire.

[AxelDC]

Day 4: GOP denies wanting to dump Palin from the ticket

This means she is doomed.

[nootrope]

you're doing a heck of a job brownie/ru­mmy/hockey mom!

[ruffmama]

Chris Matthews just gave Joe Scarborough a big spanking on Morning Joe over the issue of abortion and Sarah Palin. It was beautiful. When Chris is good he is really good but when he is bad...well­.....at least for today he is my hero!

[MikeyG]

So what if her daughter is pregnant? What does that have to do with anything?

On the other hand, her statement that the 17 year old is marrying the father is surprising. What mother would even allow, never mind condone, this marriage under these circumstances? The thoughtful path would be to keep her child and grandchild at home to allow her to finish growing up before making another life-altering decision.

It seems like Palin is putting god and/or politics ahead of what is best for her family. Will she use these same defective thought processes as a leader? Not encouraging!

[tuttlemsm]

"On the other hand, her statement that the 17 year old is marrying the father is surprising. What mother would even allow, never mind condone, this marriage under these circumstances?"

A right-wing hard-liner on "family values."

[nootrope]

It has to do with something because it shows the hockey mom is a hypocrite.

[NoSandwiches]

This is what it has to do with everything and WHY they chose to out her:

Rumors were flying on the internet that Sarah Palin was lying about Trig being her son and that actually her daughter was the mother. Since Trig is 4 months old, and the daughter is 5 months old, simple math should tell you that the daughter is not the mother of Trig.

This is important to remember, because the talking heads are trying to make it seem different:

Sarah Palin disclosed that her daughter was pregnant--not the press, not the Democrats--HER OWN MOTHER made the decision to run for a nation office knowing that her daughter's situation would become nationlly known.

Shame on Sarah Palin. She should have put her daughter first and declined.

[BLinCincinnati]

If matters because Palin wants to force her extreme reckless views on American families. She wants to force schools to teach abstinence only, and not teach about safe sex, contraception, etc. It's a completely reckless and disproven stance. Teens are going to have sex. Not teaching them about contraception and other things they need to know so that they don't get pregnant or spread STD's is reckless and irresponsible. A recent study I read said that 25% of teen age girls have an STD... 25%!!!! That's one in four. That's what this agenda by the extreme right gets you... uneducated teens having sex, getting pregnant and/or STD's, instead of educated teens still having sex but not getting pregnant or STD's.

[CaptainSunshine]

It matters because it shows how inept John McCain is at running anything. It calls into question his judgement and credibility. When did he know? Last week? That's what it sounds like. Didn't any of this information send up red flags? Is he so in love with Palin's theology that he would overlook the qualifications to be the Vice President?

[Whatashame]

Don't you notice that McCain is not giving interviews. He refused to be interviewed on CNN by Anderson Cooper about hurricane Gustav because he knows that questions would be ask about his judgment and that is why his campaign is doing all the talking points instead of him. They know his decison was rash. Not even people close to him was aware that he picked PALIN. They all think that she has more experience than BIDEN who has been in the senate for 36 years. That means that she also has more experience than McCain because he has been there for 26 years. LOL.

[justobserve]

Are they preparing for "Palin for President"?

[Whatashame]

Where is Lieberman? Could somebody please tell me.

[Whatashame]

This is not about Palin. This is about McCain judgment, intelligence, his recklessness and his hot temper. I find him to be very reckless.

[Lilly06]

I'm going to wear my fair hat on this one. Her daughter's pregnancy doesn't affect her ability to serve her country and people. Its got nothing to do with her ability to do her job and its a brave thing to do to face all this scrutiny into your family life.

Her true weakness is running next to McCain. McCain shouldn't be in the driving seat, things are too bad for someone so average to make it better (thats my opinion anyway).

However if this were a Democratic candidate, the Republicans would have caused an uproar. Adverts everywhere about family values.

[nootrope]

She is FOR abstinence and AGAINST sex ed. Meaning not just for her family, but for pushing her views on everyone, including you and your kids. That has been the signature issue of the GOP for years: that they are the "moral" ones, they are the ones with "family values," they are the ones who should be setting the social agenda for our country.

Well, now it turns out that one of the loudest proponents of those values -- values" that they would impose on all the rest of us -- doesn't even follow them herself, or doesn't even have them in the first place. That's called "hypocrisy­."

The point of having these values is supposed to be to prevent having your unmarried minor kids from getting pregnant in the first place. The point of having these values is supposedly to lead a so-called "moral" life where you are not prone to these kinds of things happening. The point of having the values is supposedly to improve the society through our behavior because of how much "better" we'll all be when we follow the values.

So if a family has these so-called values and the kid gets pregnant anyway, then have to ask the obvious question: what good are the values? They apparently don't work the way the GOP has been telling us they do for the past 20 years. Either that, or she didn't have the values in first place. Which is it?

[justobserve]

:However if this were a Democratic candidate, the Republicans would have caused an uproar. Adverts everywhere about family values"
That's the point! But Republicans pretend to be offended by the criticism.

[CaptainSunshine]

I saw some Republican congresswoman attack James Carville this morning as being demeaning to women for saying that Palin was unqualified. James Carville replied that he supported a woman for President, and believes that there are qualified women, just not Palin. The congresswoman kept going on about Carville was demeaning woman.

Her performance was disgusting. Does she think we're idiots?

[desertbreeze]

Just when I think I've seen it all the most absurd political drama is unfolding. So, Palin who does not support sex education, opposes a woman's right to choose including cases of rape and incest, and touts family values and views herself as a "reformer" has a teenage daughter who is pregnant by a boy who uses profanity frequently on an Internet site and claims he does not want kids, was apparently pregnant herself when she married, is being investigated for abuse of power, was a member of a secessionist party in Alaska and the subject of a recall movement as mayor of Wasilla.
Yeah......­..great pick McCain. What an insult to the American public but particularly to women. Does he really think that women who supported Hillary Clinton with all the gravitas she brings to the table will just switch to his ticket just because he added this lightweigh­t.? How much crazier can this get?

[tuttlemsm]

This is spot on. What people fail to realize is that the relevance of Palin's daughter is that it calls attention to Palin's hypocrisy.

This is what happens when Republicans go around lecturing and legislating how other people should live their lives. They are rarely found to be perfect practitioners of their own ideals.

[justobserve]

"member of a secessionist party in Alaska":
But, but,... McCain is for "country first" . How can she be the VP when she wanted to secede Alaska from the USA? This alone should have unqualified her for VP.

[intelliwoman]

A perfect example of Palin's (and the current republican) position on abstinence only sex education.