Year: 2008

Bristol with her parents and youngest sister, Piper, in 2007

The 17-year-old daughter of vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin is pregnant. The big question is, is this her first or second child?

I’m sure you’ve seen the doubts raised that the elder Palins’ now 4-month-old fifth child is actually theirs. I’ll let you do your own search if not, but to sum up, Sarah Palin’s closest aides said they had no idea she was pregnant when she finally announced it at seven months.

She gave birth a few weeks after under strange circumstances which included flying to Texas, where she claimed her water broke, then giving a speech to a Republican governors’ conference. Afterward, she boarded a seven-hour commercial flight back to Alaska and gave birth to her Down Syndrome baby (or grandchild, depending) in a private hospital under her longtime doctor’s care. Meanwhile, Bristol was removed from school for five months to recover from mono.

Buzzflash had a particularly good forum on all this over the weekend, where they asked people to accept that Sarah Palin really was the child’s mother, and then debate whether she was out of her mind. Most people had a hard time with the basic premise, viewing the situation as a cover-up for the then 16-year-old Bristol’s pregnancy instead.

Now news breaks that Bristol is pregnant.

“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us,” reads the statement from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband Todd.

“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,” they continued, referring to their 17-year-old daughter. “As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.”

The Palins said that “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, respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”

There is no way the McCain campaign actually vetted this nutcase before selecting her as his running mate.

A McCain campaign official tells ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that McCain knew of Bristol’s pregnancy and “didn’t believe Governor Palin should be disqualified” from the vice presidency because of it. “If Democrats try to attack, it will backfire spectacularly,” the official said.

Gov. Palin is a strong proponent of teaching abstinence-only sex education to teenagers.

McCain campaign officials said the information was released to combat unsubstantiated rumors that Gov. Palin’s fifth child, Trig, born in April, was actually Bristol’s child.

The kicker is that the Palins and McCain are claiming that it’s all none of our business.

“We ask that the media respect their daughter in the same tradition that has been afforded children of past candidates,” McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said.

Well gosh, Jill, we’d love to do that but I can’t remember a time when another candidate’s 17-year-old kid was knocked up. Give us some slack as we try to negotiate this new territory of the family values party’s making.

More words of wisdom from P. Diddy: “John McCain, you are bugging the eff out. There’s no black people in Alaska.”

HuffPo’s Van Jones:

One female friend said: “Sarah Palin is to the movement for women’s equality what Clarence Thomas is to civil rights. She’s an extremist and an enemy to the cause that has been fought on her behalf…. Someone should stand up and say: ‘I know Senator Clinton. Senator Clinton is a friend of mine. And Sarah Palin is no Hillary Rodham Clinton.'”

The Daily Show’s Samantha Bee expresses perfectly how the Republicans who selected Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate must think women — or should I say, Vagina-Americans — operate. If you haven’t seen this, you must.

CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

All we have heard from John McCain for months is, “Barack Obama is too young. Barack Obama is too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief. Who do you want answering the phone in the White House at three a.m.? * Blah, blah, blah.”

So what does McCain do? He picks someone to be his running mate who is even younger than Barack Obama and has less experience.

All we have heard from John McCain for months is, ‘Barack Obama is too young. Barack Obama is too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief.’

Sara Palin is 44 — Obama is 47. Sara Palin is in her first term as governor of Alaska, a state that has 13 people and some caribou. Obama is a member of the United States Senate from Illinois.

It’s not a big deal, except for this: If McCain wins, he will be the oldest person ever inaugurated for a first term at 72. He has a history of health problems that include bouts of melanoma, a potentially deadly form of skin cancer. It is reasonable to consider that McCain’s running mate could be called upon to be our president…

At some point, voters will have to ask themselves who they would want running the country if it ever became necessary: Joe Biden or Sarah Palin.

* Actually, Jack, that was a Hillary Clinton ad. But good analysis otherwise.

Have to pass this one along — Paul Begala’s take on McCain’s VP choice:

John McCain needs what Kinky Friedman calls “a checkup from the neck up.”

In choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate he is not thinking “outside the box,” as some have said. More like out of his mind.

“For a man who is 72 years old and has had four bouts with cancer to have chosen someone so completely unqualified to become president is shockingly irresponsible”

Palin a first-term governor of a state with more reindeer than people, will have to put on a few pounds just to be a lightweight. Her personal story is impressive: former fisherman, mother of five. But that hardly qualifies her to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

For a man who is 72 years old and has had four bouts with cancer to have chosen someone so completely unqualified to become president is shockingly irresponsible. Suddenly, McCain’s age and health become central issues in the campaign, as does his judgment.

Begala goes on to list all the potential running mates McCain passed up: Tom Ridge, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Joe Lieberman, Rob Portman, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney. Then he nails it:

For months, the McCainiacs have said they will run on his judgment and experience. In his first presidential decision, John McCain has shown he is willing to endanger his country, potentially leaving it in the hands of someone who simply has no business being a heartbeat away from the most powerful, complicated, difficult job in human history.

I don’t have a lotta love for Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman, but she didn’t waste any time sending out an e-mail that shares her feelings toward Alaska’s governor:

John McCain rolled the dice with his VP pick today – in an attempt to woo women voters.

But we cannot gamble with women’s lives.

Don’t let your friends, family and co-workers be fooled: Alaskan Sarah Palin is a dangerous right-winger who lacks the judgment to lead.

In 2000, Palin endorsed Pat Buchanan for President. Yes, that Pat Buchanan.

In 2006, Palin ran for Alaska Governor on a message of change – and then turned out to be just another corrupt Alaska politician who’s now under investigation in her own state.

She’s no Hillary Clinton. She’s Dan Quayle in a dress.

Women voters who care about equal rights, choice, family and other issues, will not see a partner in Palin.

She is lockstep with Bush and McCain on issues important to women. Every one of them. That’s scary.

The corrupt trio of Ted Stevens, Don Young, and Lisa Murkowski all raised campaign money for Palin.

John McCain claimed that Barack Obama lacked experience. Then he picked a VP who has just 20 months at the helm of a state with a population smaller than the city of Jacksonville, and zero foreign policy experience. Palin would be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Barack Obama is ready to lead. Last night he showed us what the next American president will look like. He and Joe Biden will deliver change we need.

ABC’s Jake Tapper points out that John McCain is 72, while Alaska is only 49.

Both McCain and Alaska were admitted to the United States after having been around awhile. McCain was born in Panama where his father, the admiral, was serving. Alaska was part of the Russian empire until becoming a territory in 1912.

Congress bought Alaska for the mineral rights. Lobbyists have bought McCain for pretty much the same purpose.