Ever since John McCain named Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential running mate that basically went like this — Trig Palin, Sarah Palin’s fifth child, who apparently suffers from Down’s Syndrom isn’t her child at all. The mother is actually Bristol Palin, the Palin’s now 17 year-old daughter.
The supposed evidence for this ? A few photographs of Governor Palin when she was pregnant which some people claimed showed she wasn’t really pregnant, along with another photograph of Bristol from the same time period which they claimed showed she was pregnant. Trig, the story went, was Bristol’s daughter and her parents were putting up the ruse of claiming it was theirs.
The story made it’s way around various left-wing blogs, including postings about it on DailyKos more than once (see here, here, here, here, and here), and was even picked up this morning by Andrew Sullivan (see here, here, and here).
Well, as another story at DailyKos finally acknolwedged today, the story is, apparently, completely untrue:
OK, there is a visibly-pregnant Sarah Palin talking with a CBS 11 (Dallas Juneau) reporter at the Governor’s meeting in Texas end of the Alaska legislative session. She clearly appears to be pregnant.
Unless someone has counter evidence, we can drop this crap now. Yes, there are still some interesting questions, such as why she flew to Dallas and back when she was this pregnant, and why the Alaska Airlines crewmembers insisted that she was not visibly pregnant on the flight. Nevertheless, until this photo is debunked, we look stupid pushing this rumor.
That is all.
Wow, what a shock. A Governor of a state really can’t fake her own pregnancy while simultaneously hiding the fact that her 16 year old daughter is pregnant and gave birth.
Well, it turns out there is a story out there, just not the one everyone thought it was:
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) — Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, is pregnant and will keep the baby and marry the father, a senior aide to Sen. John McCain confirmed to CNN Tuesday.
Republican presidential candidate McCain was aware of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy before he chose her mother for his running mate, the aide said.
“Senator McCain knew this and felt in no way did it disqualify her from being vice president,” said the aide. “Families have difficulties sometimes, and lucky for her she has a supportive family.”
The 17-year-old, a senior in high school, is about five months along, in her second trimester, according to the aide.
The aide said it was decided the campaign would reveal this information now because of rampant Internet rumors that Sarah Palin’s 4-month-old baby, who has Down syndrome, was actually Bristol’s.
“In the course of correcting that, we needed to get the truth out,” said the McCain aide.
Well, wow, I guess.
But, seriously, can we move on now ?
Chris Cillizza makes this excellent point when discussing the political impact of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy:
[F]or social conservatives, a teenage pregnancy is something of a jump ball.
On the one hand, premarital sex is frowned upon. On the other, the Palins’ commitment to keep the baby and Bristol Palin’s pledge to marry the father of the child gives social conservatives something to latch on to if they are looking for positives out of this situation.
* Palin has a VERY strong following among social conservatives who are nearly certain to give her the benefit of the doubt in this situation. She is a known commodity in social conservative circles and is regarded as “one of them” — a fact that should lessen any criticism from the right.
* Democrats must be VERY careful not to take a false step here. Some Republicans have already insisted that the Obama campaign is behind the rumor-mongering about Sarah, Bristol and Trig — although in our experience the campaign has not pushed the story AT ALL, in fact they have been encouraging reporters to focus on the issues of difference between the two candidates rather than personal stories. Any sense that Democrats are pushing this idea will almost certainly turn both Sarah and Bristol Palin into sympathetic figures — and that spells trouble for her detractors.
I have doubts about the Palin selection, but I really don’t think that we need to be engaging in ruining her daughter’s personal life by dragging her through the mud of an already bitter political campaign.
It’s time to drop this story.
September 1st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Nice, McCain. What kind of soldier uses a pregnant 17-year-old girl as a political shield? You knew what this was going to do, how it would divert attention away from your policies. You are throwing her under the bus.
September 1st, 2008 at 3:03 pm
That didn’t take long: Having a child, at 17, out of wedlock and while still in high school, is now a “traditional family value.” Splendid.
September 1st, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Lucas,
If it wasn’t for the fruit cake conspiracies of the diarists at Kos and Andrew Sullivan, this story never would have come out.
Is it really our business ? I don’t think so.
September 1st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
[...] Obama answers a question about the Bristol Palin pregnancy story: Jake Tapper: Governor Palin and her husband issued a statement today saying that their 17 year old [...]
September 1st, 2008 at 6:15 pm
[...] Sarah Palin, Bristol Palin, And Crossing The Line PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) — Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, is pregnant and will keep the baby and marry the father, a senior aide to Sen. John McCain confirmed to CNN Tuesday. ..Bristol Palin: Sara Palin Daughter : Bristol Palin Pregnant [...]
September 1st, 2008 at 7:02 pm
While Bristol Palin’s pregnancy in and of itself should not be fodder for punditry, the issue of teen pregnancy in general and the impact of limiting sex education to “abstinence only” as Sarah Palin supports, is a valid issue in the campaign.
Bristol’s decision to keep her baby is a valid exercise of her reproductive rights - but what about the young woman who might feel differently? Sarah Palin’s socia
conservatism makes her unqualified for public office.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:32 pm
This is a plus. As Mark Steyn points out in his recent best seller, America Alone, if our western civilization is demographically to survive in the increasingly “hostile to the west” islamic world — and not end up like the sinking European populations — these are the precise people (the Bristol Palins’) we should thank for increasing their progeny.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
It isn’t the fact that the Palin’s are dealing with what many families face–unwanted pregnancy in their young children, which limit their options for a successful future.
My problem is I am losing ground at the family discussion table with all these “super do-gooders” that can’t walk their talk.
My kids announced to us that the policy of “abstinence only” goes over about as well as it does in the Palin household.
I am loosing the battle for the party based on moral issues, or the lack there of.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:12 am
[...] what’s come out, though, has been totally unjustified, such as the continuing media focus on the pregnancy of her daughter and the people who continue to ask if it’s appropriate for a mother of five children, [...]
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:15 am
[...] what’s come out, though, has been totally unjustified, such as the continuing media focus on the pregnancy of her daughter and the people who continue to ask if it’s appropriate for a mother of five children, [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
[...] of the first that surfaced was the rumor that her fifth child Trig Palin was actually her daughters, a false rumor which led to the revelatio… That story led to the rumor that she had cut state funding for teen mothers while Governor. Then, [...]