The Politics of Family

A buddy and i were discussing the potential fallout from the flap about Palin's daughter. His thought is that it creates an opening for Democrats to note that the GOP doesn't have a monopoly on the conversation about families-

My point is that we don't have an argument in this country about WHETHER to respect marriage, families, and kids... we have an argument about HOW to do it. And it turns out, this is another example of how talking to your kids about sex works better...

He also made a good point that this creates a stark example of why listening to non-right-wing folks on families (Oprah, etc.) who support sex ed, talking to your kids about contraceptives, etc., can lead to better outcomes than listening to somebody like James Dobson. Ultimately, he thought, the more people who are peeled away from the religious right because the right's extreme philosophies lead to negative practical outcomes for families means that those people may be able to be convinced that other ideas espoused by the right lead to equally problematic outcomes for the country.

My fear is that that process is a long-term goal, unlikely to be realized in any significant numbers by November. I think that the story may turn into a net win for the GOP. First they'll blame the Obama campaign for blogs and comments that unnecessarily lash out at Palin's daughter. Then somebody makes a statement about how brave the Palins are for respecting the institution of marriage and the sanctity of life- and the whole thing helps to further consolidate the base- particularly the folks on the far right.