I just read a stat on the web that states that 51% of Downs babies are born to women under 30 and 72% to women under 35.

Whoa...wait...democrats are going to get uppity about teen pregnancy?

How do you come up with this stuff?

That's what Republicans do.

I have no idea where you read that statistic, but I had genetic counseling when I was pregnant with my second daughter. The geneticist showed me the odds of having a child with Downs Syndrome. With each passing year, the chances increased greatly.

Frequency of Down Syndrome Per Maternal Age

Anyway, I think that Obama had the right attitude, self-serving though it might have been. Private lives should be private, especially when it comes to the children of candidates.

The stats I quoted referred to the raw number of Downs Syndrome babies and not the chances. Since younger women have the most babies, than the incidence of characteristics would be greater in their age cohort.

The following is an excerpt from the International Herald-Tribune:

"At the same time, they suggested, Palin would also be given the task of appealing to evangelical voters, who have long been unenthusiastic about McCain. In many ways, the choice of Palin may prove to have been as much an effort to drive up turnout among the Republican base as it was a move to compete for women.

"We had a solid Republican and evangelical base," said Charlie Black, a senior adviser to McCain. "But now it's going to be very intense."

James Dobson, the influential conservative Christian leader who said in the primaries that he could never vote for McCain, said the selection of Palin had won him over. If he went into the voting booth today, Dobson told the talk radio host Dennis Prager on Friday, "I would pull that lever."

If Palin motivates evangelicals to rally behind the Republican ticket as they did for Bush in 2004, it could prove significant in states like Iowa and Ohio, where Republicans won by slim margins in 2004. It could also have an effect in North Carolina, a solidly Republican state that Obama is trying to win by appealing to black voters and new residents.

Republican leaders in North Carolina, who had been increasingly anxious over Obama's intensive efforts there, said they were heartened by the selection of Palin.

"Our people are excited," said Linda Daves, the chairwoman of the North Carolina Republican Party. "The social conservatives are one area where she is going to resonate."

So, with a premarital pregnant teenage daughter, to what extent will Palin still "resonate" with Evangelicals and Christian Conservatives?

Nice timing.

(CNN) – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin hired a lawyer three weeks ago to act on her behalf as state legislators investigate whether she may have abused her power in firing the state police chief for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper, CNN has confirmed.

A report of findings of a legislative inquiry that began several weeks ago is currently slated to be released just days before Election Day.

I'm just saying that it's strange a party with more liberal social values would (gasp) try to turn teen pregnancy into something with a negative connotation.

Chill, Double-J...sit back & enjoy the show while these bufoons grab at bubbles for the next two months.

It kinda reminds me of 1992...where the Rebubs tried to oust pin down Clinton on everything from Gennifer Flowers to dodging the draft...and nothing stuck, nobody cared.

Apple

I just hope you two Right Wing Lemmings still show your face around here when Obama wins.

Actually, the more I think about it, the fact you guys still preach your gibberish after the last 8 years, you guys do have the big balls.

Just wait. Reagan isn't dead, he's just cryogenically frozen...

I have no problem with Reagan. I voted for him. I might have even voted for McCain in 2000 if he would have beaten Bush. I loved Bob Dole too, but I thought he was too old, and Clinton deserved another term.

^ See? We will bring back bipartisan appeal.

Gimme a break. You know damned well if the shoe was on the other foot, the Republicans would be jumping on the same shit.

GOSH...I love it when somebody on the BB tells me I have balls!!!

Oh, relax SC. It's good to know I can still get your blood pressure up as soon as I start taking a little chip at the libs.

It's not the pregnancy itself that the liberal social values party you refer to are commenting upon. Palin is an avowed Evangelical and all which that implies about her stand on premarital sex et al. Now, as is usually the case when perceived transgressions involve a family member, she is adoptng an accomodating tone with words of love and acceptance. So far, I haven't heard or read of her fellow Evangelicals or other religious people on the right questioning Palin's home environment in which such a pregnancy has happened. I bet that if such a pregnancy happened to one of Biden's daughters it's occurence would be laid at the door of her liberal upbringing.

ZOMG! A conservative with a child who has a child out of wedlock! Whatever will we do...it's sending our progressive family structure into a quandary! We want to support lesbian families who can get invitro kids, but gasp, a teen pregnancy from teh VP's daughter! ZOMG! Transgression FTL.

Hilarious, DJ

Honestly, they'd be happier if not only had the daughter had an abortion, but also if Palin had decided NOT to have that Down's Syndrome baby. Now THAT's their kind of candidate!!

Like I said...sit back and enjoy the show.

Apple

I applaud Sarah Palin for having the courage of her convictions. There are many women who might have taken an anti-abortion stance until they were faced with such a challenge.

And, as I said, I believe that her daughter and the rest of her family are following the wisest choice for all involved regarding her daughter's pregnancy.

I don't think that this should be a public issue. Her daughter and the rest of her children should be completely off limits. Every politician's children should be.

That is true. The chances of having a Downs child are greater for a woman over 40. I don't doubt that 72% of the Downs babies come from mothers 35 and younger, but probably 95% + of pregnancies are from women under 35.

It is ironic that the present VP had it reported that his daughter is a lesbian. I had no problem with the coverage of the story because she was an adult, who was open and public about it and her support for gay rights. Also, for better or worse, children of our top executives have been a matter of public interest.

I wish this young lady the best. It's tough enough to be pregnant at 17, but to be so in the glare of the national media is a nightmare, and she has my sympathy. I also applaud her decision to give this child life.

SC, as I posted above, any comments are not directed at her daughter, but at Sarah as an avowed Evangelical. Premarital sex is not typically an advocated Evangelical article of faith. The shoe is definitely on the other foot.

Also, as I posted above, I bet that if such a pregnancy happened to one of Biden's daughters, Evangelical's would be laying its blame at the door of her liberal upbringing.

I wonder how enthusiastic James Dobson is now about Sarah.

From the National Institutes of Health website:

Who is at risk for Down syndrome?
The chance of having a baby with Down syndrome increases as a woman gets older—from about 1 in 1,250 for a woman who gets pregnant at age 25, to about 1 in 100 for a woman who gets pregnant at age 40. But, most babies with Down syndrome are born to women under age 35 because more younger women have babies.

I don't know why you're explaining this to me. I never commented against this.

FWIW - I agree with you on both points here. I find it ironic that Palin is an abstinence-only supporter of sex education in schools.

Why do I even read this thread still?

Why's it always have to be partisan? Can't we just be simply commonly human sometimes? (didn't mean to sound all Rodney King, but...) C'mon... life isn't outlined by party lines. Life is the greatest gift we will ever get. This non-stop bickering about petty bullshit just kills me.

Nothing ever changes in politics! It makes NO difference who wins... it's always the same ol' shit. When was it not? Please... only the devil's spawn enter politics to begin with apparently...

Despite Gustav being weaker than expected... that's exactly what the GOP lusted after and to cash in on... with all the (admirable) plan changes and making it a public fund-raising movement. That'll get peoples' minds off actual politics! And of course Obama followed suit. But it makes the GOP look sympathetic (perhaps for the first time in decades)... so this natural disaster is a plus for them...

But, but, but..... I'm voting for CHANGE!

I didn't know RuPaul was running this year?

Whatever you think about the issues, this business about Sarah Palin's daughter is pure bullshit. Candidates children are OFF LIMITS, and it is a disgrace that this issue is even being aired.