As the presumptive vice president candidate, Gov. Sarah Palin will be running with Sen. McCain on the Republican ticket for the 2008 Presidential election. A long time NRA member, she would spend many a cold Alaskan morning hunting moose with her father before school. She is intimately familiar with guns, their power and danger, especially when used improperly or by those who are not educated in proper handling techniques and safety measures. As a result of these experiences, she is a proponent of gun safety education for youths.
Sarah Palin is also a mother, she recently gave birth to her fifth child in April of this year. As a mother she is intimately familiar with the consequences of sex, mainly pregnancy and children. Like guns, sex can be dangerous with unforeseeable consequences, yet given the right education and environment the right answer is not always avoidance. It would stand to reason, therefore, that Palin should support comprehensive sex education for youth, yet she does not. She is a supporter of abstinence-only education. Abstinence-only education has proven for the nation, and the Palin family, ineffectual in preventing teenage pregnancy and the transmission of STDs.
Abstinence-only education often provides scientifically inaccurate information — it overstates the failure rate for birth control methods, is discriminatory against the gay and lesbian community, and is generally ineffective. However, like her disbelief in global warming, Sarah Palin does not seem very concerned about things that have been proven.
If the Bush/Cheney administration has taught us nothing else, it is that the Vice President has tremendous influence over the President. It is a disservice to our country to have someone who is closed minded to scientific fact, in favor of their personal beliefs, standing behind our Commander In Chief while making the critical decisions. Keep in mind that in the event the President is no longer capable of running the country, it is the Vice President that takes over.
The candidates, Republican or Democrat, are not required to know everything about all things. The Presidential cabinet, as well as the many other committees and research professionals should and must be utilized as part of a successful presidency. Republicans are notorious for pushing Christian values on the United States often at the expense of science and freedoms, it is what they know. But, if Gov. Palin has taught us anything in her short time in the limelight, it is that teaching only what you know may not be enough and isn’t necessarily what’s best for the country.