Palin and Autism

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She did not say anything about autism, none that I know of at least, but she did stick to her beliefs and had a child that was known to have Down syndrome. I respect that tremendously even though I am not pro-life. Of all the American politicians (and their wives/husbands) to have graced the stage in my lifetime, Palin comes across as the first genuine person who struggled for life as an ordinary person and who has now been entrusted with an extraordinary mantle. With Palin, McCain has won this election. Already media voices have turned decisively away from the novelty of the Obama-Biden ticket to report and blog on Palin. With her experience in raising a child with Down syndrome, I wonder what Palin's views on autism and other congenital problems would be? Her views on the matter could very well decide the course of public policy in America for many years to come.

I like her, in that media snapshot sense.

With the majority of this site being under 30 I don't expect a lot of support for McCain/Palin. They seem more interested in the 'dirt'.

I find her rather extraordinary as well... but as postperson said, expect the dirt to be thrown .

The dumbest thing anyone can do to Palin is to throw dirt at her. Trying to make Palin look small will only enrage a lot of people who identify with her. Perhaps one of the most attractive aspects of Palin's candidacy is that she has never claimed to be perfect. She went to the University of Iowa, worked as a administrative assistant for a while, and her husband could not quit his job with BP because the large family needed the money. I cannot recall any other politician whose life has been so ordinary. It is her very ordinariness that makes Palin such a force to be reckoned with. The people who are spreading rumors about Palin and her daughter are just going to make certain her victory. And it would be Palin, with her smooth rhetoric and media savvy, who wins this election and not McCain. Compared with Palin, Obama just looks too much like a rock star who is stringing along incongruously his trophy wife. It is about values and not issues. Policy issues can always be resolved by the army of wonks in the bureaucracy and the president must rely on their recommendations anyway. Where the values are wrong, nothing can be done. Just look at Nixon and Clinton if you want to know what I mean.

Well they're obviously worried (in the Obama camp) otherwise they wouldn't be so desperate with the 'character assassination'. That sort of thing always backfires anyway, it'll make her look like a 'victim'. Even if it were true about the child being her grandchild, that's really not BIG on a scale of evil or corruption, you know? A lot of 'average' people have that in their family history. It's the fact that they can't find a serious flaw in her life that makes the smear campaign ridiculous.

I thought the election was over when the dems chose Obama.

I guess my main worry is even though she didn't have an abortion, it does look like she didn't care enough about the baby's life to seek medical help when her water first broke. Frankly it's a miracle the child survived after how careless she was. It almost looks like she wanted to have the baby not make it through.

I think she is a nice lady with a beautiful family. She was very excited when she won a job as a sportscaster with ESPN, but then gave up the job as she would have had to move to Bristol, CT. (Hey, I bet that is were she got her daughter's name!) she didn't want to move her family from AK. That Federal inquest stuff about firing the official that wouldn't fire her ex brother-in- law from the State Troopers will all be decided and over at the end of October, so people can make up their own minds about the out-come before voting begins.

I wonder how she will like living in a big city, how her family will fit into no privacy and if she gets homesick, my heart goes out to her, I know what that is like. Being VP has got to be a difficult job just showing up every day, you know?

I think the Republicans are being very nice about the unmarried pregnant daughter. Unlike how I was treated what. . . 40 years ago when I was unmarried and pregnant. That was a nightmare! it was considered very bad form, then. I am so glad those older Republican ladies have changed their mind and values about all of that, and are not mean to her but genuinely welcoming. We certainly have come a long way!


Merle

It's sad but people will vote because of personalities instead of policies. Palin is a perfect example, and for now I reckon republicans have made a good PR move.

oooh, nevermind the economy and foreign policy, look she is a hard working mother with a child with down's syndrome and that's why i'm going to vote for her!

Ugh... it's painful to read these posts written by people who clearly have never had a baby or witnessed a labor and delivery from beginning to end.

Water breaking is not an emergnecy!! ! And hers was just leaking. You have minimum 24 hours before you need medical intervention. Some women even forgo that if they are having a homebirth and wait longer. Amniotic fluid leaking does not necessarily mean you are having contractions or in pain either...

I know people who have safely homebirthed babies with Down Syndrome, and 36 weeks is not a "preemie." It is considered full term and a woman can even homebirth with NO intervention at 37 weeks.

These smears are utter nonsense, and I'm seeing it everywhere.

Postperson is right, this will backfire, and I'll be happy when it does, even though I don't necessarily agree with her views.

No doctor on earth is going to tell you to go fly for 8 hours without access to medical attention after your water breaks, no matter if you're giving birth to a perfectly healthy, full-term baby or not.

36 weeks is premature. Even at 37 weeks there is risk of underdeveloped lungs.

It was her 5th child, and usually labor progresses faster with each one. So even though she may have been in labor 30 hours with her first child, it's not unusual to labor shorter than 8 hours on your 5th.

I AM a mother, your accusations are worthless. I never would have taken such risks with my first child, let alone my 5th, and I find it disgusting that a "pro-life" supporter would do such a thing.

That's why I was actually hoping that Trig really was her grandson, not her son, because the "true" story is much worse than anything the left comes up with.

Birth is not the horrible disease the medical establishment would have you believe. She is being attacked and ridiculed for her birth choices, which is wrong.

I was impressed even to hear that she has a child with Down syndrome. I'm sad to make this observation, but the statistics on how such a large percentage of Down syndrome children are aborted means that it is a powerful statement even to have a child with Down syndrome.

There is a lot of pressure placed on parents, telling them that it is somehow "selfish" to bring their child into the world if he or she isn't "normal." A few have whispered the same sort of criticism against Palin, saying that she is "selfish" to be seeking public office when she has a Down syndrome child to take care of. Not only does this indicate an insulting view of women being confined to the home, but it also shows a lot of ignorance about Down syndrome! Yes; her child may have special needs, but will they really rule out the entire rest of her life? Especially now, when most of her child's needs aren't that different from caring for any infant?

(Just to be clear; I'm not accusing anyone here of making this argument-- I've heard it elsewhere and it bothered me. People's decisions on who to vote for should be based on a lot more than who a candidate's family is.)

I'm hopeful that whatever happens in the election, this will raise awareness about Down syndrome, and maybe autism too, since there are all too many people who would encourage parents to abort a child if they had some way of showing it was likely to be autistic.

Actually as the news about it has settled down it looks as if this has actually hurt McCain's chances.

Everybody likes her, on both sides. The gossip is just from a handful of trolls and no one is taking them seriously. You can find trolls anywhere, on any issue. No one is going to be swayed by issues surrounding Palin's daughter. You can't judge Obama or his supporters by them.

As for the story that her water broke at a conference... For one thing, I haven't seen it confirmed by any responsible source. For another, even if it's true, it's no big deal. My water broke completely at 5:00 pm, I felt no pain or contractions at all until 8:30, and the kid wasn't born until around 7:00 the next morning. Palin was in much better shape than I was and had been through it enough to know what to expect. No biggie.

Nope, I don't see a need for Obama or anyone to attack her at all. McCain will loose the election, all by himself, because of the issues. Not because of the trolls.

Actually, the issues with Palin have existed for a long time... as a former Alaska resident with family and friends there, folks in the lower 48 have no real idea of the issues and political issues that exist up there. It's simply different in terms of scale, scope, space and mentality. Her stance on environmental issues, individual rights, and economic development are immature and limited in their own application. I can applaud her ability to succeed... but while I was already on the Obama side of the fence, this just sealed the deal for me on the Republican ticket.


M.

yes, no matter how great Sarah Palin is as a person, she is just not the best choice John McCain could have made to be a heartbeat away from a 72 year old man with four incidences of cancer. If this is McCain's best judgement, he will lose on his own merits. Obama might win by default.

personally, I don't think Sarah Palin will last the campaign, but I have been wrong before.

Merle