As Jay posted just a bit ago, Sarah Palin announced that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant. I guess the Nutroots’ rumors that Governor Palin faked her pregnancy to hide her daughter’s is false. Note to the leftists: not everyone considers an unexpected pregnancy to be something that should be hidden. Here’s the Palin family’s statement:
We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us,” the Palins said in the statement. “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.
I’m sure Todd and Sarah Palin were hoping that their daughter would be older before she started a family, but they are, nonetheless, proud that their daughter shares their belief in taking personal responsibility and that the life of an unborn baby is precious and should be loved and nurtured, not destroyed. Instead of driving their daughter to a clinic and disposing of what Barack Obama considers to be a punishment, they are happy that Bristol will carry her baby to term and will marry the father. Yes, life will be tough for them, but they have the love and support of the Palin family and, I’m sure, the father’s family as well.
One of the first reactions those who follow politics probably had was how this news would affect McCain’s and Palin’s campaign. Would they lose support from their supporters. Well, Evangelical Christians are some of Sarah Palin’s biggest supporters, and it looks like they are rallying behind her and her family. From David Brody at CBN:
Look, this development will actually be positive for the most part with Evangelicals. First they hear that Sarah Palin chooses the life option even though she had a Downs Syndrome baby and once again the family (and Bristol) has chosen the life option in this recent case. That’s a double “ca-ching”. Let’s call this the Evangelical daily double. If anything, this whole situation will probably make more people around the country relate to her and her family. It makes them more real. Will there by some turned off by the whole pre-marital sex thing? Of course but this type of story doesn’t sink her at all with Evangelicals.
I need to give John McCain big, big kudos here for walking the walk. He knew Bristol was pregnant when he and his campaign were vetting Governor Palin, but he refused to deny her the position of VP because of it. Why? Because, one, her daughter’s pregnancy is wholly irrelevant to Sarah Palin’s qualifications as vice president and, two, he also considers the lives of unborn babies to be precious, even the life that resides in the womb of 17 year old girl.
For a more personal response, I highly recommend you read Ed Morrissey’s post. His son and daughter-in-law got pregnant with The Little Admiral right before at the start of their senior year in high school. If anyone has a perspective worth reading, it’s his.
Update: Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I read at Hot Air that members of the media knew about Bristol’s pregnancy and didn’t think it was their business:
So his name is Levi.
That’s about the only thing that I didn’t know about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy. The rest of the details I picked up almost without trying, while talking about other things with townsfolk — some who know the governor and her family well, some who don’t. It was, more or less, an open secret. And everyone was saying the same thing: the governor’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, the father is her boyfriend, and it’s really nobody’s business beyond that.
I happen to agree…
If you haven’t guessed yet, the people here are genuinely friendly. Even those in Palin’s inner sanctum who have been told since Friday not to talk to reporters by McCain’s media team, are almost apologetic that they can’t be neighborly and chat, since you came all this way to little Wasilla. And those who can talk, do. All weekend they had the decency not to pretend that they didn’t know the governor’s eldest daughter was pregnant. But they also expected decency in return, that I wouldn’t be the kind of person to make sport out of a young girl’s slip.
The fact is, regardless of what you will hear over the next few days, Bristol’s pregnancy is not a legitimate political issue. Sarah Palin is a longterm member of a group called Feminists for Life, which is not opposed to birth control. So you probably can’t tag her for consigning young people to unwanted pregnancies.
Update (Lorie): I can’t add anything to what Jay and Kim said so well already, but did want to add a link to this post from The Anchoress which includes a great roundup of related posts from around the blogosphere.
