Sarah Palin Confirms 17-Year-Old Daughter's Pregnancy

Right-wing, evangelical Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin
confirms her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. The announcement is intended to "knock down" a weekend of rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin "faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child."

According to the
statement released by the John McCain campaign, Bristol Palin, one of the Alaska governor's five children with husband, Todd, "is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father."

The Palins say their daughter has their "unconditional love and support" and ask for privacy.

IMHO the Obama campaign probably won't touch this one. The campaign and progressives should begin to ignore the neophyte right-wing governor--who is running for vice president, not president--and concentrate on McCain's extreme conservative positions.

The teen pregnancy is a personal, family issue and there is no up side to attacking the daughter. Hopefully she will have a safe and easy pregnancy. But this should raise discussion. The Republican platform stresses "abstinence education" and no premarital sex. Palin is opposed to condoms and contraceptives on school grounds and safe sex education. Is she still opposed to condoms and safe sex education? Doesn't this demonstrate the futility of abstinence-only education? Sounds like it does. If anything, this illustrates why now, more than ever, we need a Democrat in the White House to help single mothers less fortunate than Bristol Palin.

Start trashing a teen mother who chooses to "keep the child" and the evangelicals, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, every Republican pundit and FOX News will come to her defense. Bristol Palin will become the poster girl for the "pro-life" movement and energize the Republicans.

Posting from BlackBerry and apologize in advance for format and/or typos.

Comments

[Fred]

Good grief, my head is spinning, this is better than Young and the Restless. Obama just came out and said that this issue has no bearing on the election and the family should be off limits. I do agree with him but the topic of teen pregnancy, pre-marital sex in general are things the Republicans have shunned and criticize for decades. If Chelsea Clinton got pregnant during Clinton's presidency the Replicans would be on them like white on rice. Obama has too much class for that......

What will be the next bombshell tomorrow? LOL!

[Taylor Siluwé]

True. It's not Bristol's fault that her mom doesn't believe in sex ed, or condoms.

Though the person ripe for attack is McCain for his impulsive decision to pick Palin to be one pace-maker blip away from running the world.

I mean, Jeez, there are so many questions surrounding this woman, the McCain camp had to know she was risky. Is Bristol really 5 months pregnant? Or is it a ruse to hid the fact that her 4 mo old brother Trig is really HER kid?

There is a substantial case being made for that.

Whatever. Thank God the Obama camp isn't takin the bait -- family is 'off limits', he says. Which is good. This has too much potential to backfire.

[Lizzy]

Being pregnant at that age is hard enough. I can't believe her family is supporting/allowing/coercing her into a teen marriage too.

[Fred]

Palin herself has a 4 month-old baby. Her priorities should be dealing with diaper changing and late night breastfreedings. Now her teen daughter is about become a mother herself. Shouldn't the VP job be the LAST thing on Sarah Palin's mind? She should remove herself from the running as VP.....STAT!

[Mikey-He Likes I]

Well if people don't know who Palin is they have a glimpse now. I can only imagine if this was 1 of Obama's daughters the very ugly stereotypes you'd be hearing. Rethuglican party is definitely the party of hypocrites. And why the shotgun wedding? Is this what the kids want? Is the daddy an eskimo?

[Bernie]

Obama/Biden have a responsibility to back away from this story, but the rest of us don't.

The Hypocrites, otherwise known as Republicans, love to play the whole "family values" card. If this had been one of Barack and Michelle's girls, this story would have blown Gustav off the front pages.

And frankly, Hockey Mom never addressed the point by point allegations first made by DailyKos and re-published in today's AlterNet that the 5 1/2 month old allegedly birthed by Sarah Palin was also her daughter's.

This story speaks directly to McCain's judgement. He didn't vet and now he's getting burned. Is this leadership?

[Jim]

If Obama had a pregnant 17-year-old daughter, you just know that every cracker in America, starting with Fox News, would be talking about how black people can't control themselves and how black people expect the rest of society to take care of them.

We're in a situation now where Republicans can never be attacked, because if they are, YOU will be attacked for attacking them.

Non-Republicans, on the other hand, can always be attacked, and then any attempt to defend them is attacked as lame.

This is not just a joke. This is truly the middle stages of neo-Nazi control of the major media. It's all well and good that, for now, we can discuss all of this on the Internet, but the Internet is not what determines the thoughts of the average American.

[Ray]

I agree with Jim and Bernie.

If the situation was reversed, the Republicans would have a field day berating Barack on his faith, values, character, ect.

The very thing that conservatives preach abstinence-only education, backed with a huge does of religion has failed in the case of Palin's daughter. Irony of ironies? I think so.

[Mel Smith]

It's ok for the Republicans to use the 'family values' card to justify discrimination against gays. Therefore, they will ignore every other 'sin' in their opposition against us.

[jb]

Barack is taking the high road on this one. He is telling his campaign workers that if they put out anything negative regarding this story they will be fired. I personally think republicans are the absolute worst. But the funny thing is half the republican party is either gay, a cheater, or a pill-poppin dope addict. So much for their "family values." And to think faux news had the nerve to beat up on John Edwards because he cheated on his wife. I am soo sick of this republican nonsense and will be glad to see Barack Obama sworn into office. January can't come quick enough!!

[Bill]

It's good for America to see Obama take the high road on this. This way he can't be accused of anything. He did start it with saying that Michelle was off limits, even though the media and others continued to attack her. He should do what all the others, including Hillary's camp, did. Let people from his organization drop remarks and such, then deny knowing anything about it, apologize, then fire them and hire them back later.
This is politics, so there is always a way to make things like this work for you and make it look as if it didn't come from you. Repubs do it all the time. Everyone, including the Republs, knows this doesn't look good for what they stand for. It was obvious that Mcain chose Palin and put her up front as a weapon of mass distraction, and it worked. Most people were talking about her as much as Obama. They were mainly says "Sara who?" Kinda like Samamntha Who?, the show. If Obama steers through this and is able to remind people that he stayed away from this it will help him some. Not much though, because this is politics and people will still come after Michelle and if he reminds people too much of his ability to stay away from topics deemed unsportmanship, like the preg daughter, Republs will say he is too soft and can't take the heat or can't fight, which are all the things they were saying about him earlier.
He will win the election, but it is and will always be a double standard for him in white America's, and some of black America's, eyes. Some black folks really don't want black folks in charge. So Obama will always have to fight both wite and black America, while white candidates/presidents only had to deal with white America.

[oundthewww]

Why do they always make an issue on celebrity or public figure's pregnancy?..Sheeesh...

[Mike_88]

"if he reminds people too much of his ability to stay away from topics deemed unsportmanship, like the preg daughter, Republs will say he is too soft and can't take the heat or can't fight"

The quote intrigued me because if he was a smart, he wouldn't play their games. That "he's soft, can't take the heat" bullshit is just bait and he should just try his best to to bite it. The GOP has done this too many times to the Dems and succeed. It's not hard to see what they are trying to do.

[Derrick from Philly]

Now put up a picture of Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, and this gal. John McCain is senile.

[Lavenderpop]

"Is the daddy an eskimo?" LOL, I feel bad laughing at that but I did. The news says the father is 18 and on his myspace page which has since been taked down, he self described himself as a red neck. This has Jerry Springer written all over it.

Now will Faux News refer to him as a baby daddy, the way they called Michelle a baby mama?

[Lavenderpop]

'taken down' sorry.

[Luther]

Attack the mother for being a hypocrite and out of touch with kids and sex, the kid being pregnant, that's life has been for centuries. But, like it or not, had Obama had a teen daughter that was knocked up, the GOP would be all over it like white on rice and McShame would have been the force behind it.

This always being the nice guy is what is going to make Obama lose this election more than anything else.

And, @lanvenderpop, Sarah palin is Jerry Springer herself after reading about her "back ground," LOL!

[sammi]

Jim, I completely agree with you. If it was Obama's daughter, she would not be off-limits. Nor would her race.

Yet on the other hand it's continuously suggested that republicans should not be attacked..and I hate to say this, but with some folks that comes to equate that "pure" Whites should be off limits.

This is indeed a form of neo-nazi control of the discourse, and to accept this may have long term consequences we're not ready to measure yet.

[fc]

It just shows how hypercritical people are, i cannot stand people who claim to believe the word of god be doing most of the bad sins.