ALL IS FAIR IN...........SEX AND POLITICS?

Since when? Since when do we refer to a candidate’s child and use the phrase “fair game?” We have all grown up learning that there are lines you just don’t cross. As children we found ourselves ready to do battle if someone said or did anything to hurt our moms and/or dads. We were ready to take up the fight to protect our siblings. As adults, we become fierce in our duty to protect our children. We know messing with the family is a dangerous move.

Let’s just be honest here. We heard reports all week about how Kerry was preparing for the third debate. His “people” worked closely with him on his technique, delivery, and material. Every word counts. Each position and response is calculated. Now, I am perfectly willing to admit that some questions are going to arise that a candidate has NOT prepared for. Does ANYONE think that a question on same-sex marriage came as a SHOCK? If so, then you SHOULD be disenfranchised! You are either being intellectually dishonest, or you are treating your right to vote in the most irresponsible manor imaginable.

I am not pleased with the political climate, or tactics used in this years election cycle. I believe people on BOTH sides have been guilty of bad behavior. Yet, I beg to use the phrase “pales in comparison.” We all do, or at least should, understand the difference between something you can take issue with, and something that is just a flat-out deal breaker.

I believe we all know of the example I am referring to, but just for the sake of being thorough, here it is.

QUESTION: Both of you are opposed to gay marriage. But to understand how you have come to that conclusion, I want to ask you a more basic question. Do you believe homosexuality is a choice?
KERRY: We're all God's children, Bob. And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as.
I think if you talk to anybody, it's not choice. I've met people who struggled with this for years, people who were in a marriage because they were living a sort of convention, and they struggled with it.
And I've met wives who are supportive of their husbands or vice versa when they finally sort of broke out and allowed themselves to live who they were, who they felt God had made them.
I think we have to respect that.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/debatereferee/debate_1013.html

After the debate, we got this comment from Mary Beth Cahill:
"There are a lot of questions here about gay marriage and she is someone who's a major figure in the campaign. I think it's fair game," Cahill told Fox.

1. The term “fair game” is a claim. To mention a person or topic and label them “fair game,” is the equivalent to sticking your flag in the sand and saying “I can exploit this.” When a couple breaks up and a friend wants to take a gander at the X, they say things like, “Hey, you broke up with him(her), he’s(she’s) fair game.” Or, if a country feels justified in shooting down another country’s aircraft, they might use the claim, “Your plane was in our airspace, that makes it fair game.”
2. Kerry has no right exploiting a candidate’s privacy in ANY way until he forfeits HIS privacy. Hey Kerry, let’s see your WIFE’s (not daughter- WIFE!) entire tax return. Heck, I’ll settle for YOUR private military records! Sign the form, then we will discuss whose life is “fair game” for exploitation!
3. Kerry could easily delete the first paragraph of his response and make his point VERY well. The first paragraph, to him, was necessary!
4. Kerry’s line of using the line to “compliment” the Cheney family just doesn’t fly. I heard no compliment. I heard an announcement, not a compliment!
5. I won’t even touch the line from Mrs. Edwards about shame! There is no shame in protecting your child’s private life. There IS shame in dragging your private life, your bedroom- or anyone else’s, into the public street- let alone broadcasting it on national television during a political debate. This was a debate on POLICY- not an MTV special on bedroom preferences. CAN IT Elizabeth, you should be ashamed.
It is now our responsibility to speak out. Let your voice be heard. You can’t say it any more clearly than with your vote. Put a stop to the ugly climate of politics. Voting for a candidate that is willing to exploit a child for political gain will only lead to more of this unacceptable behavior. As someone who has worked on campaigns, the bottom line is this. When a candidate wins using such tactics, the advisors are stuck with only one conclusion. This ugly behavior works. Show them it doesn’t work, and I assure you, they won’t use it again. Their goal is to WIN!