A Media Storm And a Hurricane

Throughout the conventions, Post opinion writers are commenting on washingtonpost.com's PostPartisan blog. Excerpts from yesterday's posts:

Sarah Palin was chosen as a candidate who understands middle-class family struggles, and this is a pretty typical one. On the scale of family secrets, a pregnant teen marrying her boyfriend is hardly shocking. It is personally wrenching for all involved. But, if properly handled by caring parents, it can sometimes result in the arrival of new life and a new family. And a new life is always a good and glorious thing, whatever the circumstances of the birth.

What does all this say about Palin herself? That she is a hypocrite? Absurd. She seems to have acted in a manner entirely consistent with her religious beliefs. (If she had urged her daughter to get an abortion, that would be hypocrisy.) That Palin is somehow unqualified for office because she couldn't "control" her own family? This is a foolish, cartoon version of Victorianism.

There are only two things that would concern me. If Palin had not informed the McCain campaign about this situation before her selection, it would mean she has poor judgment. But the campaign has said it was informed. It would also disturb me if Palin had not fully discussed her decision to run for vice president with her pregnant daughter, who will now be exposed to a lot of vicious ridicule. In light of this, I hope Palin's decision to join the Republican ticket was a family decision.

Those who believe that a family situation of this sort will alienate or anger evangelicals have never actually met an evangelical. Evangelical Christianity (in most modern forms) is not about the achievement of perfection, it is about the acceptance of forgiveness and healing.

-- Michael Gerson

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A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about teen pregnancy and the impact it has had on so many aspects of life in the nation's capital. While I never used the terms "black" or "African American," many readers saw the teen pregnancy problem in only racial terms.

Today's statement from Sarah and Todd Palin disclosing that their unmarried, 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant expressed the couple's pride at becoming grandparents. As a grandparent of six, I can appreciate their feelings. I'm also happy to learn that their daughter will have the unconditional love and support of the entire family.

I wish the angry readers who weighed in on my column showed similar understanding and at least a little respect for the young women I wrote about.

Instead, this is some of what I got:

"How long has this 'problem' been going on in the black community? Since the dark ages, er, the 60's, say. From day one they should be held accountable for their behavior. . . . Remove the kid if necessary and establish some kind of homes for them. Better the state rear them instead of the current crop."

"What children see they will do and what they do they will become."

"Stop handing out welfare and housing to teen mothers and teen pregnancy will be cut by ½ in a few years."

Sarah Palin, husband Todd and daughter Bristol are well suited to tell the rest of America that there is more to the problem than that.

-- Colbert I. King

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After Reuters published its story confirming the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter, within seconds no less than five people e-mailed me the story. Though I'm in central Warsaw, I heard before my parents did -- and they're in Washington. I don't think this lightning communication bodes well for the Republicans: The speed with which the dirty jokes/insults are traveling across cyberspace reminds me of the worst moments of the Dick-Cheney-shot-his-friend story and the Monica Lewinsky scandal. And no, it can't be dismissed as mere gossip. The Republican Party has been solemnly advocating "abstinence" over contraception for so long that the vice presidential candidate's daughter's pregnancy is legitimate news.

-- Anne Applebaum

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I am certain that both John McCain and Barack Obama are sincerely worried about the people who live in the Gulf region. But please: Let's can the false piety about the cancellation of the convention showing that McCain or anyone else is "above politics." Everything done here in St. Paul this week will be carefully calculated for its political impact. Obama will also be calculating the political impact of what he does this week. Both candidates would be crazy not to think about the effect of this storm on the election. Both will be trying to look as if they are handling this situation with strength and sensitivity.

The same people pushing the line that there's no politics going on will be the ones playing politics most fiercely. . . . If McCain, but not Obama, were to fly down to the Gulf, the GOP would say this shows McCain's "leadership," while his critics would argue, as Paul Krugman does in his New York Times column today, that a McCain visit "wouldn't do anything to help the area recover" but would "tie up air traffic and disrupt relief efforts." If the roles were reversed, the same arguments would be offered the other way around.

In general, I agree with Krugman's point. I hope neither McCain nor Obama goes down there right away. Let the relief workers do their work.

-- E.J. Dionne Jr.