In a Boston Globe report on the McCain campaign’s struggle to send consistent messages, the lead anecdote points out what seems to be a fundamental disagreement between the running mates about funding for programs for people with disabilities. An excerpt:

When the head of a local group representing families with Down syndrome rose at a town hall meeting outside Milwaukee on Thursday morning to ask Sarah Palin what she would do for those with the condition, Palin boasted that as governor she had increased spending on programs for children with disabilities and would do the same nationally.

From the same stage half an hour earlier, however, John McCain had appeared to rule out such a commitment, as he reiterated a pledge to restrain new spending on everything other than the military or veterans care.

Related story:

Patrick Healy, writing in the New York Times, describes Sarah Palin as a riveting speaker whose most powerful moments come when she is talking about her son Trig.

Ms. Palin’s infant son, who has Down syndrome, is a frequent presence in his mother’s left arm as she shakes hands with supporters and moves from event to event.

Her references to her son are the most personal part of her speech, as she describes being scared when she first learned that the baby would have special needs. She and her husband, Todd, talked, prayed, reflected and ultimately decided to have the child.

“There are the world’s standards of perfection, and that’s what you see in some magazines, and then there are God’s standards,” she said at the Ohio rally Sunday night and repeated in Virginia on Monday. “God’s standards are the final measure. Every child is beautiful before God, and dear to them for their own sake.”

See earlier posts here and here.

(Virginian-Pilot photo via Associated Press)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Campaign 2008, Down syndrome, abortion, disabilities, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post