Year: 2008

Newsweek issues correction on Palin social issues story

Katie Paul at Newsweek alerted me that Newsweek printed a correction to their story claiming that Palin cut funding for teen mothers and the state WIC program. I blogged about it here and had extensive conversations with Alaska officials about the claims. Ms. Paul was also diligent to work with Alaska officials to correct the story once I made her aware of the facts.
Here is the correction (at the end of page 2):

Clarification (updated Sept. 11, 2008) : A number of readers have challenged the assertion in this story that Gov. Palin “cut by 20 percent the funding for Covenant House Alaska, a state-supported program that includes a transitional home where new teenage mothers can spend up to 18 months learning money management and parenting skills.” In fact, she did not cut existing funding, but rather trimmed by $1.1 million funds the Alaska legislature had allocated for Covenant House Alaska this year for a capital construction project. We have also clarified the original wording which implied that Palin had voided the entire Women, Infants, Children (WIC) program. This was not our intent; Palin voided $15,840 the legislature had allocated for a WIC provider.

Now when is the Washington Post going to correct the Sept 2 story that started the teen mom claim?

Democrats want Obama to put the smack down

When McCain-Palin moved ahead in the polls, Obama’s supporters began to worry. McCain’s lead is not sizable and not even uniform in all polls, but the perception that “we’re gonna frickin’ lose this thing,” as one columnist at the Huffington Post recently wrote, is driving some panic. Ariana Huffington wants Obama to get all huffy and put the smack down.
Various Dems have offered support, including President Bill Clinton. I am also hearing that the word is ignore Palin and attack McCain, specifically on the economy.
Given the ongoing, bad economic news, finding lots to criticize won’t be hard. However, it is very difficult to pin that on McCain since he has been a persistent critic of Bush administration spending.
In any event, the campaign promises to get uglier and uglier.

Still stumping for Hillary; Ohio Dems mixed on Obama

This article from the Daily Telegraph reports some Hillary supporters who are not ready to let go of their gal, Hillary.
I have been quite surprised how many women I have talked to around Western PA who were not in favor of Hillary because of her stance on social issues or other issues for that matter, but favored her nonetheless. Rather, they really believed it was simply time for female leadership. Palin has resonated with them and may be the ticket going forward. There are so many demographic groups which may do some shifting this time around. I continue to wonder if evangelicals will break at the last minute toward Obama; not in large numbers but enough to offset some of the 18 million HIllary voters who might defect from Obama toward McCain.

Canadian doctor warns that Palin's decision could lead to fewer abortions

I had to read this several times to understand that this doctor did not mean this in a good way.
I am at a loss for words (for now…)
UPDATE: The above link has been removed but this article mentions the same doctor. The LA Times then ran an explanation here

A September 11 post on this blog based on a September 9 story in the Globe and Mail in Toronto mischaracterized executive vice president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Ottawa Dr. Andre Lalonde’s sentiments as expressed in the Globe and Mail story. The headline for the post read “Canadian doctor warns Sarah Palin’s decision to have Down baby could reduce abortions.” And the second paragraph said, “But a senior Canadian doctor is now expressing concerns that such a prominent public role model as the governor of Alaska and potential vice president of the United States completing a Down syndrome pregnancy may prompt other women to make the same decision against abortion because of that genetic abnormality. And thereby reduce the number of abortions”. Doctor Lalonde’s point of view should not have been portrayed as a concern that the number of abortions would decline but rather, as expressed in the Globe and Mail, that women would be influenced by Gov. Palin’s decision to keep Down syndrome children that they were neither emotionally nor financially prepared to care for. Here’s a link to the article on which the post, since removed was based.

(h/t: sheepcat).