The Palin statement on daughter's pregnancy

From John McCain's campaign headquarters in a Washington suburb comes this today:

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, Sarah and Todd Palin issued the following statement regarding today's Reuters story:

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates."

The Reuters story to which the statement refers tackled head-on the speculation that swirled over weekend on some blogs about whether Sarah Palin was, in fact, the mother of a child born earlier this year or whether Bristol, 17, was the mother. According to the Reuters story, news of Bristol's current pregnancy "was being released to rebut what one aide called "mud-slinging and lies" circulating on liberal blog sites."

The story continues:

According to these rumors, Sarah Palin had faked a pregnancy and pretended to have given birth in May to her fifth child, a son named Trig who has Down syndrome. The rumor was that Trig was actually Bristol Palin's child and that Sarah Palin was the grandmother.

A senior McCain campaign official said the McCain camp was appalled that these rumors had not only been spread around liberal blog sites and partisan Democrats, but also were the subject of heightened interest from mainstream news media.

"The despicable rumors that have been spread by liberal blogs, some even with Barack Obama's name in them, is a real anchor around the Democratic ticket, pulling them down in the mud in a way that certainly juxtaposes themselves against their 'campaign of change,' " a senior aide said.

According to various news reports, Palin told the McCain campaign about her daughter's pregnancy before the Alaska govenor was tapped by him to be his running mate.

UPDATE: In comments this afternoon on the pregnancy news, Obama angrily denounced the attempt by the unnamed McCain advisor cited in the Reuters story to link him to the blogs questioning who gave birth to Trig Palin.

The Times' Noam Levey reports that Obama said:

I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us. I hope I am clear as I can be. So in case I’m not, let me repeat. We don’t go after people’s families. We don’t get them involved in the politics. It’s not appropriate and it's not relevant.

Our people were not involved in any way in this. And they will not be. And if I ever thought  there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they’d be fired.

UPDATE NO. 2: The Ticket's Andrew Malcolm was in a choice spot today and armed with a video camera when McCain-Palin campaign manager Steve Schmidt held an "impromptu" press meeting. A crush of journalists surrounded Schmidt and he declared Bristol Palin's pregnancy a "private family matter" and not a political issue. "Life happens," Schmidt said. Malcolm's video follows.

-- Don Frederick

Schmidt video by Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[letsjustvote]

Eight is enough!

[coolrepublica]

Anyone who thought that it was harder to be a black man in politics than a woman of any color is getting a reality check.

Sarah Palin has as much qualification as Obama but he is running for president and she is for VP. But somehow he is qualified to be president and she is not qualified to be VP.

Obama sat in the church of reverent wright for 20 years and did not leave, but now they want to make an issue of Sarah not been able to control a 17 year old with free will. They want to attack her mothering skills because she has a newborn and still want to contribute to her country.

I actually think this pregnancy is a good thing. Obama just spend last week telling Americans about how he knows more about how they live than McCain because he spoke to someone who lost a job on the trail. Well all politicians do. But McCain can say that Sarah brings a new perspective. She does not just talk to the average American. She is the average American. Her husband is a fisherman and a blue-color worker. She is going to be a grandmother at 44. She has had these kitchen table conversation with her own husbands over bill, health care, many times and does not need to sit at someone else's table to know what is been said at them.

She got in politics for the right reason. I doubt that when she was growing up she ever thought she would end up taking on the Alaskan republican establishment, never mind been selected to be VP. Obama from the beginning always had his eyes on the prize. Who for god sake rights two biographies in their 30's. It's almost insane.

Sarah would be a great VP and a great president. If Obama is good enough Sarah Palin is better than good enough.

[Mitchell in NY]

This whole story is bizarre. Did Palin really have to tell us about her daughter's pregnancy because of the mean liberal bloggers? Wouldn't a birth certificate and medical records have done it? My guess is that they became concerned that people would poke around and discover that her daughter is pregnant.

So without the bloggers, I take it, the pregnancy would have been kept a secret until after the election.

Normally I would say that her daughter's pregnancy is a private affair and none of our business. But it is important to know that Palin's extreme views on abortion and birth control are for real, and this is not a good thing for all the rest of us who have (had or will have) teenage daughters (and sons). Teenage pregnancy is a serous problem, not a blessing.

"McCain Just Lost the Election with a Hail Mary (or Political Ambition 21, Country 0)"
http://msa4.wordpress.com/

[VJ Machiavelli]

Yes, Sarah the New Republican Terminator is not your "Country Club, "RINO", "ELITE" type Republican thats for sure.

She is going to be the most talk about VP in history.

Jay Leno and the SNL folks will have more material than they know what to do with.

Yes, she is the face of "TODAY"

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com
ps I wonder what Jessie Jackson will have to say about it, he can relate in a different way.

[Annette]

I just read that the McCain Campaign said that this is what every American family has to deal with and this would connect her even more with normal families. Life happens!

Excuse me?????

This is now normal for the GOP and the rest of America should just fall in line behind it?????? A 17-year-old under-aged minor, a teenager pregnant? It is outrages to just put the blanket of normality over this. We have big, big problems in our country because of teenage pregnancies and the (hopefully not) next president of the US tells us that this is normal and we do not need to talk about that further????????????

Poor leadership, disgusting, outrages, unbelievable. McCain's campaign looks more like a soap opera then a serious run for the White House!

[Mike]

If you think that Sarah Palin is telling the truth, then why does she NOT look like she is 7 months pregnant in the photo below?? What is the real story??

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/02/images/20080225-2_p022508cg-0005-515h.html

President George W. Bush participates in a photo opportunity with the National Governors Association Monday, Feb. 25, 2008, on the North Portico steps of the White House. White House photo by Chris Greenberg

[VidCrayzee]

For a humorous take on Palin’s pregnancy pickle check out, http://beema.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/beema-news-september-1-2008/.

[Obama]

Barack Husseim Obama. 20 years in an unamerican church with Rev,Wright as mentor and pastor, a property scam with criminal jailed Rezo, a recent tie to terrorist bomber Bill Ayers, ties to Father Michael Pfleger, Farrakhan, Al Sharpton and rapper Ludacris. Do you really want this man to lead this country and change it to WHAT ? Sarah Palin is not the problem. Investigate Barack Hussein Obama.

[EAH]

"..We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents..."

I thought this line was interesting. It implies that Bristol had options other than carrying the pregnacy to term. If you are pro-life - what are those options?

Makes me wonder about the vetting process - did they really think this would not matter? I think McCain will have to drop her, which will be the death knell. This coming from a Republican that wants to find a reason to vote for McCain but can't.

[Audrey Flowers]

My husband and I have three children. They have been raised with high morals and values. However, I am sure they have made mistakes. Regardless of how hard you try, you cannot be a watchdog 24 hours a day. I admirethe Palins for their obvious unconditional love and acceptance in a tough parental situation.