Doing The Right Thing: The Left Helps Palin Turn Out Traditionalists

By Kleinheider Posted on August 31, 2008 at 2:29 pm

The Tennessee Guerilla Women point to some progressive bloggers who are giddy to point out that Republican Veep nominee-to-be Sarah Palin may have conceived her first child while unmarried.

Kudos, I suppose, for being clever enough to do the math but what exactly is the tactical political advantage of pointing this out?

As the “outers” mention, they are progressives so it doesn’t really matter to them whether a child is made “legitimate” by marriage or not so one can assume that their objective is to somehow show the hypocrisy of a conservative and spread the seeds of dissent.

Yes, social conservatives believe that sex outside of marriage is ill advised. However, when sex is had outside of marriage and a life is conceived because of it, socially conservative also believe in “doing the right thing.” Which Sarah and Todd Palin did by getting married.

This line attack betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the traditionalist and conservative mind. The fact that Sarah Palin may have participated in a “shotgun marriage” is not a strike against her but shining star in her virtue column.

Compounding the virtue, of course, is the fact that she is still married  to Todd despite what may have been the somewhat expedited circumstances of the proposal. If what Americablog says is true, then Sarah Palin did not only do what a social or theological conservative would likely counsel, she has succeeded in proving the path she took as a fruitful one.

Sarah Palin not only had the baby conceived out of wedlock and married the father, she proceeded to have four more children with that same man while maintaining a career and rising to the office of Governor of her state.

Sarah Palin’s alleged “illegitimate conception” pretty much systematically unravels several assumptions that many progressives and feminists hold regarding traditional life, codes and mores. Sarah Palin essentially embraced all those “patriarchal” rules that have been foisted women from the beginning of time and actually thrived either because of (or despite) holding true to traditionalism.

This seed of dissent will find no purchase among traditionalists and pointing it out only serves to undermine the progressive, secular values many of the Left hold dear.

Just as progressives will likely want to steer clear of the abortion issue with Palin due to her down syndrome child, so too will progressives want to shy away from mention of her first child’s date of conception.

Sarah Palin is already a darling 0f the traditional Right. The only thing this tactic will do is succeed in raising her status to that of full blown icon and matyr.

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Tags: date of conception, illegitimacy, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin, Track Palin, two plus two equals bad tactics