Campaign orchestrated news of Bristol Palin's pregnancy

John McCain-Sarah Palin manager Steve Schmidt warned reporters at the Republican National Convention that the American public might have a "harsh view" of them for continuing to write about Bristol Palin's out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Huh?

Only hours earlier, the campaign had released a statement on the subject -- an announcement that projected the virtually anonymous 17-year-old into the international spotlight. Did Schmidt really admonish the media n ot to continue to focus on the private news his campaign released?

Absolutely, according to The Ticket's Andrew Malcolm, who claims the campaign staged every syllable and the timing of their debut. Malcolm was there with a video camera to capture Schmidt's performance.

Ticket video by Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Rue Dee]

How naive to think her daughter would not be savaged by the media when her pregnancy was apparent. What kind of mother would subject her daughter to that? For her daughter's sake, Ms. Palin should have considered this and declined the offer of nomination. She is an example of grossly poor judgment and selfishness.

[Sharron L.]

This is an issue of misogyny. A female VP is told she needs to go back to the kitchen because her kids can't behave. Her daughter, at 17, decides to get married and have her baby and keep it in her family where it should be, and she is attacked as immoral and indecent. The reason this was announced was BECAUSE of the horrible lies in the Daily Kos that claimed Palin's infant was not hers, but her daughter's. That sort of disgusting smear is typical of Kos- and eaten up by the mindless readers who believe anything said. Palin did this to DEFEND her daughter. She had no choice. I'll tell you what is sick- a married woman like HIllary who stays with a man who humiliates her, then criticizes other women who "stand by their man". Ridiculous! A 17 year old is NOT a child, and Sarah Palin should stand tall and prove that she is a very strong woman. I remind you again- in colonial America 1 in 3 young brides walked down the aisle pregnant. It's nothing NEW- get over it. I hope those of you who try to condemn a mother with values over her daughter's decisions are put in a position one day to be judged by YOUR kid's behavior. Everyone who was a virgin when they were 17 raise your hand? I thought not. Obama's mother NEVER married his father. What will you DO about that?

[abby0802]

Bristol Palin is now fodder for the press and the blogs. Her mother Sarah Palin, not the press, put Bristol in that position. Sarah Palin wants to be vice president regardless of what the media attention brings to her family, her daughter, and the father of the baby. She apparently is so ambitious she would rather use/exploit her daughter to prove what a loving mother she is than to deal with the family issues that really need to be resolved.
What should be the issues are Sarah Palin's lack of experience, her extremist positions on abortion, the NRA, evangelism, etc.
The "righteous" right scare the hell out of me.....

[cta]

I'm more worried about her attempt to ban books in the local library when she was mayor.

[Rick]

What does her daughter's life have to do with her ability to run as VP? Absolutely nothing but the gd liberals got to stir up crap cause they're feeling their inexperienced man getting beat.

[Sonia Kermaz]

The Christian social conservatives politicized and publicized the personal long ago! Among other things, Palin wants to change policies and laws that affect our personal choices and behaviors to conform with her family values.

The tragedy about the Sarah Palins in our society and government isn't that "We can't control what our children do," it's that they absolutely want to control what my children do.

The lesson that free-thinking humans should take from the Palin morality play is this: It is always the worst offenders who despise us for their failings and mistakes.

[Cathy A]

To be honest it did seem very orchestrated and designed to get attention. I hope the circus dies down and I wish the expectant parents all the best.

[Thanks, but no thanks]

I learned yesterday that the far left is every bit the same as white supremacists or any other hate group. Frothing, bitter hatred of what this girl supposedly represents for getting pregnant early: lack of education, "trailer parks," irresponsibility, failure to "nip it in the bud" (to be euphemistic), stupidity. Problem is, teenage pregnancy is not the problem of a single party or political spectrum. What has emerged is the incredible contempt these far left people have for ordinary Americans who don't fit the common mold of PPDs (heard that one yesterday: Peacoat, Prius, and Dog!!!). I was an independent long before it was fashionable, and was actually very moved by Mr. Obama's speech last week. But if these are the kind of people who are going to gain power by his election, with their eugenics-minded hatred, I am now fully backing McCain/Palin.

[Karen]

I think the media has used a double standard on Palin.

If it was a man, this commentary would not happen.

Gov. Palin, like many professional working women, has a "village" (remember Hillary Clinton's book It Takes A Village?!) of family (her husband, parents) and friends to help her juggle.

All professional working Moms rely on the family and friends network - we help each other out and it is the only way we could achieve our potential and role model for our children (both boys and girls) that regardless of our gender, or whether we are parents or not, we all have something to offer this world.

I believe Gov Palin has much to offer; she has done what others promise to do - work in a bi-partisan way to solve real problems for real people.

The reality is we need to all get along and stop this uncivilized negativity.

I will vote for McCain Palin ticket.

This double standard and criticism does more harm than good for all of us.

[jane]

I hope Palin will not be charged to reform the “No Child Left Behind” Law:

One out of 20 children entering ninth grade in Alaska will have a college degree 10 years later, making the state one of the worst in postsecondary-education in the nation. Alaska's efforts to improve the dropout problem have also sunk. More than one in three ninth-graders will leave school before getting a diploma. These results from a new state study released today show a faltering Alaska education system.

The report found Alaska ranking at the bottom of educational attainment indicators -- from getting children through high school to achieving an advanced degree in a timely manner. Alaska is 8th from the bottom in the nation among states in the number of ninth-graders graduating four years later. 4th from the bottom in high school seniors going directly to college. Last in the number of college freshmen receiving a bachelor's degree within 150 percent of the normal program length.
"This really sends the message of how immediate the need is and the gravity of the situation," said Diane Barrans, executive director of the state's Postsecondary Education Commission, which released this study.

The problem is cultural. Alaska is a state of individualism, people doing their own things. Most of the debates and policies are in extraction of resources and corruption control. “Like a sieve, kids are falling away and the State Government has not seriously figured how to address the issue," said the study's author, Ron Phipps, of the Washington, D.C. - based Institute for Higher Education Policy.

[Bill in San Diego]

Pretty tone-deaf orchestration.

[Anonymoose]

Sharon, if Gov. Palin was pregnant, she did not show during those 9 months although her daughter did. Her daughter also left school for 8 months with "mono". Gov. Palin's "water broke" in Texas, she took a 8 hour flight to Alaska, and THEN had her risky birth.

If you think that Trig is Palin's son, you are just as delusional as she is, McCain is, and anyone who thinks that after the hell the media has put Michelle Obama through that we'll just ignore this story.

Get a grip. Open your eyes. See the truth. Make an informed decision about who you can trust with this country.

[laura]

Correction: Obama's father DID marry his mother.
Fact: There was no birth control nor education for young women in colonial America, and the analogy is ridiculous.

[Jim]

Palin's young daughter is pregnant, and the father (a kid) wants noting to do with it. Will this cause her to reexamine her stance on sex education in schools and/or abortion? Of couruse not. Palin is as Far Right as you can get. There is no clearer example of why we need to keep Conservative Republicans OUT of the White House indefintely.

[Silvi]

How do we know for certain that it is Bristol's idea to keep the baby and get married, but not her parents' imposition? Do we know if the baby's father agrees to become a father and get married? Is he not entitle to make a choice of his own because he's a man?

I have a daughter and a son; as much as I respect my daughter's right to her own decisions, I also believe my son is entitle to the same.

Just wondering....

[Jim]

Palin's young daughter is pregnant, and the father (a kid) wants noting to do with it. Will this cause her to reexamine her stance on sex education in schools and/or abortion? Of couruse not. Palin is as Far Right as you can get. There is no clearer example of why we need to keep Conservative Republicans OUT of the White House indefintely.

[joey]

in response to sharron l, i haven't heard any politician say that sarah needs to return to the kitchen. i also don't think her family's private life should be campaign news, except for one question.
i would like to hear someone ask mccain/palin how abstinence-only education works.
even though i don't think palin's family (or obama's, or biden's or mccains, or cindy's father's) should be campaign news, sarah palin and john mccain were the ones that introduced the family. i can't tell you how many times over the weekend i heard them boast about her being a mother of five and "a hockey mom". i heard sen. lindsey graham use her being a mother of 5 as a qualification for being VP (and eventually Pres).
so, in campaigns, when you use an attribute for your benefit, expect a little light to be shown on that attribute.

[Kenneth Bertschy]

If McCain knew about the pregnancy before picking Palin, he too had to know what effect this would have on Bristol. It's callous and heartless. McCain is so blinded by ambition that he doesn't care what happens to people he steps on in order to win. Sarah Palin is so blinded by ambition that she threw her own daughter to the hounds. Now that's compassionate conservatism.

[joey]

in response to sharron l, i haven't heard any politician say that sarah needs to return to the kitchen. i also don't think her family's private life should be campaign news, except for one question.
i would like to hear someone ask mccain/palin how abstinence-only education works.
even though i don't think palin's family (or obama's, or biden's or mccains, or cindy's father's) should be campaign news, sarah palin and john mccain were the ones that introduced the family. i can't tell you how many times over the weekend i heard them boast about her being a mother of five and "a hockey mom". i heard sen. lindsey graham use her being a mother of 5 as a qualification for being VP (and eventually Pres).
so, in campaigns, when you use an attribute for your benefit, expect a little light to be shown on that attribute.

[mary jones]

I was a virgin at 17, my daughter is a virgin at 20 and so is my 15 year old. My mother walked the isle a virgin. where are your chirstian moral values?

[Mtobias]

The pregnancy is only a small aspect of the bizarreness of this candidate.
She was a member of the AIP before she was Mayor f Wasilla, according to that organizations leadership,

see vid clip here:

The secretary of the AIP states she was a member prior to being mayor in this video clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE8A3lsydzQ&feature=related

The 1) troopergate, 2) the lies about not backing the Bridge to Nowhere, 3) being the director of indicted Senator Stevens 527... all adds up to extreme weirdness.

I agree, get off of the stupid pregnancy already and get into the true meats of the matter.

[Mtobias]

I want to know where my posts disappear to.

[The Man]

I bet none of you liars and idiots read the Kos article. It brought several interesting points, like why did Sarah Palin board a flight AFTER her water broke. This is extremely dangerous, esp for a Down's baby. You guys are fed propaganda by MSM and just eat it up.

[Heather]

Put the kool-aid down, Sharron. The McCain/ Palin campaign knew ALL ALONG Bristol was underage and pregnant. They also know that Levi Johnston, the soon-to-be-father, doesn't want kids (by his own admission). The McCain/ Palin USED Bristol's unfortunate condition to portray the Palins as just another American family in crisis. Unfortunately, their family is in crisis because Sarah and Todd cling to the failed policies of abstinence-only sex education. Sarah didn't DEFEND her daughter, she EXPLOITED her daughter.

But this Rovian tactic will work if it overshadows Sarah Palin's OTHER faults like her involvement with the Alaskan Independence Party.

[Jonathan]

Sharron - if you actually read the Daily Kos, you would see that the large majority of commentors on the article you refer to decried the rumor and said that it shouldn't have been written about.

And it's really silly to say that the McCain campaign only made this announcement because of some liberal website. You think that otherwise, they would have ignored the news?