Apparently, because Sarah Palin has a 4 month old child with Down Syndrome, anyone with a child with a disability should seriously consider voting for John McCain, because Sarah Palin will understand our pain.
That's the message I'm starting to see crop up on message boards, etc. for parents of children with disabilities.
I have a child with autism, and am on a number of these message boards.
In the last few days I've seen a number of messages posted about Sarah Palin's child on message boards, e-mail lists, etc. for parents of children with disabilities.
Alright, it is news for this community when a major political figure has a disabled child. But a number of these messages go beyond just reporting the "news." They are indicating that this will make McCain more sympathetic and likely to support more government services for children with disabilities. Why? Because Sarah Palin will advocate for them.
I have to say that many of these messages seem suspicious, and seem to be obvious plants to try to win over a crowd that tends to be very politically active.
My suspicions were further heightened when I responded back to one of these posters indicating that not only would Sarah Palin, given her record and ideological positions, be unlikely to support additional governmental services, but John McCain's plan to tax employer provided health insurance would be detrimental to our families.
The poster immediately responded back with "canned" talking points touting the John McCain proposal to tax employer provided health care and provide a $5,000 credit.
It's good thing that I write about health care extensively and am intimately familiar with why this plan would be a disaster for the millions of families in this country that get their insurance through their employers. I immediately responded negating each and every talking point.
She came back with more talking points, which I negated again. At this point other posters came in, some in the health care industry, others who were small employers who could back me up. Yet this poster still kept coming back with more talking points (which I called her on since I have all the McCain material).
When I finally wore her down, her final response was that she would rather pay thousands a year more in taxes to have the "choice" of choosing her own health insurance over having to take what her employer gave her. I responded back that she probably wouldn't have a choice (particularly since her child was disabled) and would have to take whatever plan that would take her (if she could afford it).
So, was this person a McCain campaign worker hired to lurk on message boards for parents of children with disabilities or just some parent who happens to be a McCain supporter?
And, if it's a campaign worker or someone just recruited to hype McCain to parents of disabled children, then could the McCain campaign sink any lower?????