[SKL]

Originally Posted by KKR213

I agree that any candidate - male or female should not have their competency judged just because they are also a parent. There have been many successful elected officials that have young children. But I do wonder why any parent would want to put their 17 year old child (and the child's boyfriend) through world wide scrutiny. Even if the families are happy about the pregnancy and upcoming birth, it must be a hard and personal situation for a 17 year old.

I've seen this concern expressed a few times.

I feel it's quite possible that Bristol doesn't want her pregnancy to interfere with her mom's chance to be VP.

I know we think of 17 as young, but maturity varies from child to child. I started my second year of college at 17; I was a woman, not a child. My mom was married at 17; she was a woman, not a child. If I had found myself in Bristol's position at 17, I would have sat my mom down and told her that she should forge ahead and I would be OK. Yeah, a lot of things about the situation would suck whether she was governor or VP candidate, and some things would be worse due to the national scrutiny. But all that will blow over. Like they say, eat a live toad first thing in the morning, and nothing worse can happen to you for the rest of the day.

Bristol is old enough to understand that all that trash isn't really about her at all, but about some voters looking for any excuse to disrespect the opposing ticket. I am sure it is hurtful, but if it wasn't her pregnancy, it would be something else; and if it wasn't her, it would be someone else's kid.

I think the greater shame would be if a woman dropped out because of her daughter becoming a woman a bit sooner than expected. Apparently that's what her family decided, and I respect that.

I didn't notice too many people saying Edwards should drop out when his wife was fighting an often fatal disease while raising two small children. Outside of gender and political bias, I don't see how folks can justify a different standard for Palin.