By HDN staff
Take off your shoes, ladies, put on your maternity smocks, and get back in the kitchen Rick Hill is coming to town.
We thought the days of measuring a womans worth by the man she married or the number of children she bore were long since past.
But Rep. Rick Hill, R-Mont., has chosen to resurrect such a measuring stick in statements about Democratic U.S. House candidate Nancy Keenan, stating her lifestyle makes her a poor choice for Montanas next representative to Congress.
In an Associate Press report of an article in the Washington, D.C., publication Roll Call, Hill made the statement, Im a family man. Im a grandparent. Im a small-businessman. Nancy has never been married and obviously has no children.
If you havent been there, you dont know what its like to raise kids and the struggles and challenges of that lifestyle, he said. I have some understanding of what it means to run a household full of kids, and shes basically been working for the government all of her life.
It is ludicrous that Ms. Keenan was put into the position of defending her political capabilities by revealing her physiological inability to have children and her decade-long dedication to an ailing, elderly mother.
Following her explanation, Ms. Keenan stated she will not get into a personal issues volley with Hill. We hope she will be able to stand her ground in the coming months and withstand the defensive urge to partake in the political mudslinging.
Hill has yet to make his re-election plans official, but his throwing of the first character-assassination stone makes his intentions pretty clear.
Stick to the issues, Mr. Hill. If you disagree with Ms. Keenans political platform, say so. If you believe her policy choices have been wrong, say so. If you have an issue with her stand on gun control, abortion, or health insurance, say so.
But, Mr. Hill, if you plan to base your campaign on Ms. Keenans marital and parental status, the only house Montanans will send you back to is the fraternity house.
