Candidate Families Do Matter in the 2008 US Presidential Election
It's a cliché to say the world is changing fast but the implications of that change are most relevant in the 2008 US presidential campaign.
America's last presidential election four years ago occurred in a pre-twitter age when America's war on the rest of the world was a major issue.
In the current election, the Republican vice-presidential candidate is a self-described "hockey Mom" with a pro-life, anti-choice platform.
That most private decision of a couple impacts heavily on the defining characteristic, by definition, of "family.
" The notion that a candidate's family is "off limits" to the press is ludicrous to begin with, in view of the fact that families are very much part of the dog-and-pony shows of American political campaigns.
But to keep those families in the public eye only when they're dressed in Sunday best is a deception at the very least.
In an age of twitters and tweets, it is a hoodwinking that feeds a frenzy of curiosity and speculation that mesmerizes attention with the titillation of small town gossip and masks the real issues.
Among the real issues in this election is that of family and family values.
It became part of the Republican platform with the choice of an ultraconservative vice presidential candidate chosen to court the ultra-right wing vote able to swing the current election as it did four years ago.
Four years later, however, the ultra-conservative icon of the "hockey Mom" presents a family portrait not entirely in conformance with the common understanding of all that "family values" entail.
Beyond that, while unwed teenage pregnancy is no longer a stigma in 2008 American society, the announcement of that family development in context of a new and premature legitimate family being formed is hypocrisy, political machination or both, especially since the new father- and husband-to-be was trotted out at the Republican Convention.
At the very best, the scenario presents the height of a high-tech shot-gun wedding, which may or may not come off during the two months remaining for the presidential campaigns.
The right to freedom of the young people involved and the impact on the families and the country itself in the event either chooses to exercise that right by deciding not to marry, could impact on votes in November.
For that reason and in the interest of fairness, then, all the candidates' families are now part of the candidate's candidacy and they are a reflection of the candidate's performance in decision making, leadership, guidance and overall eligibility for national leadership.
Furthermore, in the twitter age, that new, modern standard for full disclosure of fitness by opening the window onto candidate families is not limited to the "nuclear" family.
It extends to siblings, as it did during Bill Clinton's campaign in 1992.
And it also extends to ex-spouses and to the circumstances of divorces for a consideration of how well the unfortunate family break-up was conducted in conformance with family values.
America's last presidential election four years ago occurred in a pre-twitter age when America's war on the rest of the world was a major issue.
In the current election, the Republican vice-presidential candidate is a self-described "hockey Mom" with a pro-life, anti-choice platform.
That most private decision of a couple impacts heavily on the defining characteristic, by definition, of "family.
" The notion that a candidate's family is "off limits" to the press is ludicrous to begin with, in view of the fact that families are very much part of the dog-and-pony shows of American political campaigns.
But to keep those families in the public eye only when they're dressed in Sunday best is a deception at the very least.
In an age of twitters and tweets, it is a hoodwinking that feeds a frenzy of curiosity and speculation that mesmerizes attention with the titillation of small town gossip and masks the real issues.
Among the real issues in this election is that of family and family values.
It became part of the Republican platform with the choice of an ultraconservative vice presidential candidate chosen to court the ultra-right wing vote able to swing the current election as it did four years ago.
Four years later, however, the ultra-conservative icon of the "hockey Mom" presents a family portrait not entirely in conformance with the common understanding of all that "family values" entail.
Beyond that, while unwed teenage pregnancy is no longer a stigma in 2008 American society, the announcement of that family development in context of a new and premature legitimate family being formed is hypocrisy, political machination or both, especially since the new father- and husband-to-be was trotted out at the Republican Convention.
At the very best, the scenario presents the height of a high-tech shot-gun wedding, which may or may not come off during the two months remaining for the presidential campaigns.
The right to freedom of the young people involved and the impact on the families and the country itself in the event either chooses to exercise that right by deciding not to marry, could impact on votes in November.
For that reason and in the interest of fairness, then, all the candidates' families are now part of the candidate's candidacy and they are a reflection of the candidate's performance in decision making, leadership, guidance and overall eligibility for national leadership.
Furthermore, in the twitter age, that new, modern standard for full disclosure of fitness by opening the window onto candidate families is not limited to the "nuclear" family.
It extends to siblings, as it did during Bill Clinton's campaign in 1992.
And it also extends to ex-spouses and to the circumstances of divorces for a consideration of how well the unfortunate family break-up was conducted in conformance with family values.
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