BY DAVID SALTONSTALL
DAILY NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
Updated Monday, September 1st 2008, 11:39 AM
Sarah Palin and her daughter, Bristol, in 2006. Anchorage Daily News/MCT
Sarah Palin and her daughter, Bristol, in 2006.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Rocking a GOP convention buffeted by Hurricane Gustav, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin announced this morning that her unwed, 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.
Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
PHOTOS: MEET SARAH PALIN AND HER FAMILY
"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us," the Palins' statement said.
Bristol Palin made the decision to keep the baby, which would be due a few weeks before Inauguration Day, McCain aides said. The Palins gave the father's namely only as Levi.
"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. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support," the Palins said.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE RNC
The Palins asked the news media to respect the couple's privacy.
"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," the statement concluded.
Senior McCain campaign officials said McCain knew of the daughter's pregnancy when he picked Palin last week to join his ticket, deciding it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.
In the short period since she was announced last Friday, Palin has helped to energize the Republican Party's conservative base, giving the McCain camp fresh energy going into the campaign for the Nov. 4 election against Democrat Barack Obama.
It was unclear yesterday how the latest revelation would play with the party's conservative base and Republicans in general.
McCain officials said the news of the daughter's pregnancy was being released to rebut what one aide called "mud-slinging and lies" circulating on liberal blog sites.
Some bloggers contended 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 Bristol Palin's child and that Sarah Palin was the grandmother.
A senior McCain campaign official said the rumors were appalling.
McCain camp was 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.
With News Wire Services
DAILY NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
Updated Monday, September 1st 2008, 11:39 AM
Sarah Palin and her daughter, Bristol, in 2006. Anchorage Daily News/MCT
Sarah Palin and her daughter, Bristol, in 2006.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Rocking a GOP convention buffeted by Hurricane Gustav, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin announced this morning that her unwed, 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.
Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
PHOTOS: MEET SARAH PALIN AND HER FAMILY
"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us," the Palins' statement said.
Bristol Palin made the decision to keep the baby, which would be due a few weeks before Inauguration Day, McCain aides said. The Palins gave the father's namely only as Levi.
"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. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support," the Palins said.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE RNC
The Palins asked the news media to respect the couple's privacy.
"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," the statement concluded.
Senior McCain campaign officials said McCain knew of the daughter's pregnancy when he picked Palin last week to join his ticket, deciding it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.
In the short period since she was announced last Friday, Palin has helped to energize the Republican Party's conservative base, giving the McCain camp fresh energy going into the campaign for the Nov. 4 election against Democrat Barack Obama.
It was unclear yesterday how the latest revelation would play with the party's conservative base and Republicans in general.
McCain officials said the news of the daughter's pregnancy was being released to rebut what one aide called "mud-slinging and lies" circulating on liberal blog sites.
Some bloggers contended 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 Bristol Palin's child and that Sarah Palin was the grandmother.
A senior McCain campaign official said the rumors were appalling.
McCain camp was 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.
With News Wire Services
what about family values. i guess palin's daughter never heard of abstinence.
ReplyDeletedont you t hink its cute that her grandchild and child can be in school together, play group together.
good values for the american public
can't wait to see the spin the republican's will put on the pregnancy.
ReplyDeletejust confirms what a loser mccain is