The kids are off limits? Except when he can be used to get votes?

I haven't watched the speech yet, though I taped it. How exactly did her children campaign for her? Is there presence at the RNC what you are calling campaigning? As far as I know the only candidate whose child campaigned for them was Clinton.

Are you saying that her children are campaigning for her by standing on a stage with her? It's hard to understand what you're saying.

piasa- If she is going to use her kids to try and get votes then they are symbols of her campaign I know you conservatives have a hard time with when your candidate is not perfect and gets knocked down off of their Jesus status but oh well.

I believe it was his lordship Obama who said that his wife and kids were off limits. Even though Michelle campaigns for his highness. Come on .... admit it ..... you don't like her and in your eyes she can't do anything right.

I believe you should check your facts.

it is a matter of perception. I am a parent of a child with special needs and have experienced the challenges that go with trying to get those needs met in a school system that doesnt care about the needs of your child. Hillary advocated for equal rights for children with special needs and Palin in the White House can continue to improve the programs that Hillary started years ago. Having a friend in the white house is a good thing when you know of these challenges first hand. Pallin was remarkable and her biggest critics are those that are now realizing that Obama made a big mistake not putting Hillary on the ticket and gauranteeing himself the white house.

[b]To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. [/b] I disagree, she exploited the most vulnerable one...the baby. This was not getting to know me...this was a plea for votes.

asuniqueasyou, I hope for your sake since you seem to be going for that side, that Palin has it in her to kick McCain's butt into thinking her way, because McCain has been very poor on children's issues. He votes "no" when he shows up to vote, but the last few years he hasn't been showing up much to vote.

"I was very uncomfortable when she used her handicapped son to make a play for the votes of the parents of special needs children. So, the kids are off limits...but not if they can be used as a campaign tool?" Sure sounds to me like you have a problem with it!

You copied it but did you read it? Me:"I was very uncomfortable when she used her handicapped son to make a play for the votes of the parents of special needs children. So, the kids are off limits...but not if they can be used as a campaign tool?" Sure sounds to me like you have a problem with it! Again, the pandering below is what I have a problem with: [b]To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. [/b]

That's interesting, newtondak. How is it that Obama was simply trying to get votes when he made those statements about the kids being off limits and not making a sincere statement designed to protect ALL of the children involved? even though there are rumors that it was actually his people that started all the internet gossip saying that Sarah Palin's son was actually the illegitimate child of her daughter. Do you have any familiarity at all with the Daily KOS? They're a very far left liberal website and nobody controls that rag. They have the money and ability to derail political campaigns all by their little selves and do no one's bidding. [i]If there is any population in this country that needs a friend and advocate in the White House, it is special needs children and their families - and by the way, she did say friend AND advocate. Would you have had a problem with her taking her son and holding him on stage if he were not a special needs child - probably not.[/i] I have no problem with her holding her son onstage, I have no problem with Cindy McCain holding that baby and I thought Piper was cute as a button when she licked her hand and smoothed down his hair and *again* that is not my point. If there is any population in this country that ALSO needs a friend and advocate in the White House, it's single mothers and teenage mothers but I certainly didn't see her address that. Why? Because bringing up that subject wouldn't tug on as many heartstrings as bring up special needs children does. She picked and chose. The kids are off limits politically, morally and as sources of news yet she stood there and used her son's disability to make a pledge. Would it still be considered "using" her child as a campaign tool if she were advocating for child care or educational services or other issues that pertain to all children rather than just special needs children? No, it would not. Just as pretty much all other candidates have done in the past, they brought her family onstage - male candidates have done it for decades and it was okay with everyone that they were showing that they were family oriented to get votes. Sarah Palin is a wife, a mother and a working woman - she brings her family onstage and she's using them to get votes. Did you even read my original post? I never said that I objected to that...and I have no objection to that. I never said that she was using her children to get votes by bringing them onstage and I never said that she was using her "children" or her "family".

Um ... do you feel that way when Obama and Michelle paraded their two daughters out at the DNC? So are his children fair game now?

You know, I actually didn't see the RNC speech where the kids were trotted out... from reading Spalladino's post, I had assumed that it was attached to an appeal for votes from parents of special needs kids. If not, then I'm wrong!

I'm sorry as I had missed this part of her speech when I had to be somewhere. But what she said about her son in the military or her comments about her handicapped baby doesn't bother me at all. What is wrong with reaching out to people? [b]"And we were so blessed in April. Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. You know, from the inside, no family ever seems typical, and that's how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other, the same challenges and the same joys. Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge. And children with special needs inspire a very, very special love. To the families of special-needs... (APPLAUSE) To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message for you: For years, you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. And I pledge to you that, if we're elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House." (APPLAUSE)[/b]The rest of her speech is here ..... http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/conventions/videos/transcripts/20080903_PALIN_SPEECH.html

I agree with you that, for most of the speech, she was just talking about them, letting the public get to know her better, and there is nothing wrong with that but that one line that I've quoted again and again in this thread seemed to me to be pandering to a special group and using her son to do it.

First of all, I have a granddaughter with Type 1 diabetes so children's medical issues are very important to me. Please don't think that I don't care about that issue because I do, very deeply and am very active with the JDRF. Having said that, I do not object or question Sarah or Cindy's dedication or interest in special needs children. I think that's great! What I object to is Sarah Palin using her special needs child in order to make a plea for votes from the parents of other special needs children. I do not agree that McCain, Obama or Biden have done this. I have not seen any of the other candidates direct any audience's attention to one family member in particular and make a campaign pledge related to that family member's disability. This is entirely different from letting America get a look at the family and play on the cuteness factor. That's normal and acceptable.

I hope she doesn't either because eventually the voters will realize that it's not right to use your child like that. I don't know what surprises me more, the fact that she actually sought out special interest voters on the platform of her disabled child or the fact that people are so ga ga over her that they believe it's okay.

I didn't have the text of the speech available last night or I would have included it in order to avoid misconceptions like these. Seeing Palin's child did not make me uncomfortable, that's as ridiculous as the question you followed up with. My objection was NOT about the kids being there, or about Palin introducing them, or about her talking about them a little bit. My objection was to this: [b]To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. [/b] She used her child's disability to make a play for voters in similar circumstances. I didn't see her making a play for the parents of unwed pregnant teens though. And, by the way, I am not "you people" and Obama is not my "guy". I have not made my decision yet as most people here already know.

I agree Annie, I's sure you probably remember my middle child has autism, and the cost involved with his medical care is unreal. He use to go to a specialist that charged $249 an office visit (we had to find a ped that felt like they could properly help with his medical care since we have a big deductible) so at the begining of this year when they decided to change his medication that treats his hyperactivity he had to go every two weeks for 12 weeks. We didn't want to but of course the doctor needed to note his progress and the med change also brought a monthly savings of a lot of money, it went from $289 a month to $130 a month. Does Palin have to worry about paying her electric bill because her son's medication and doctor's visits over six hundred a month? lol I think not. I don't need a friend like that. Again, thanks but no thanks.

She didn't do any such thing. And it's disgusting the way people are raking her through the mud.

Ok, Taskr, I went to bed after posting this discussion so I've only just now searched out your initial response and will respond to you here instead of continuing to post under you. Yes, Palin brought her children and some other family members with her...I have no problem with that. She mentioned that her son and a nephew are in the military and gave a little bit of information about their status. She talked about her husband and introduced her parents. Her children and husband joined her onstage after the speech. She didn't mention the pregnant daughter or Downs Syndrome. Nothing wrong with any of that. But... She made a political promise on the back of that little baby: [b]To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. [/b] Is she not going to be a friend and advocate for the families of our military? Is she going to be a friend and advocate for the taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet? Is she going to be a friend and advocate for the elderly...as her parents obviously are? Is she going to be a friend and advocate for pregnant teenagers? No, she chose to single out her handicapped son and to use him as a political ploy in order to gain support from the parents of special needs children.

People will nitpick everything about another candidate just to sway the people's votes to the other person. I cannot wait for this whole campaign thing to end.

The only politician I know of who actually said that "kids were off limits" was Obama. Like I said, I myself don't recall Sarah Palin saying anything about kids being off limits. The "McCain Camp" is not Sarah Palin. There's also a remarkable difference between attacking a candidate through their children, and a candidate who uses her child as an example that she can and does understand the struggles of a group of people with the same problem. One is intentionally harmful to both the child and the parent, and the other is not.

Are you suggesting that the McCain camp never objected once to media coverage of Bristol's pregnancy and that Obama was the only one who insisted that the children be kept out of it? I'm sure Sarah Palin does know what it's like to be the parent of a special needs child. She also knows what it's like to be the parent of a pregnant teenager but I didn't see her trying to connect with the voters who may be in that same situation. Certainly she can relate to their struggles as parents, too.

Right. If she didn't have them on stage, today they would be saying she's ashamed of them. It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" case I guess.

I hope you weren't referring to me because I never said that ANY of them are fair game. I also didn't say anything against either party bringing their families on stage...that's traditional...and usually pretty cute. I also have no objections to introducing your family and talking a little bit about them. Both the McCain and Obama camps objected strongly to the activities brought about by the Daily KOS and the public comments by the media relative to Bristol's pregnancy and I read/heard repeatedly that it was a private family matter that should be left private. I agree. I also heard/read that the children were not part of the campaigns and should not be used as such...that they were off limits. I also agree with that. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Deomcrat, Republican or an Independent but I will answer your question...No, the Obama campaign was not exploiting his children by bringing them on stage just as the McCain campaign was not exploiting Palin's children by bringing them on stage. But THIS falls into the category of pandering for votes from a special interest group: [b]To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. [/b] Whether you agree with me or not, as I said in my original post, it made me uncomfortable to see her make an election pledge to a select group of voters based on her son's status as a special-needs child.