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Palin Says Daughter, 17, Is Pregnant

NEW YORK In a surprise announcement, the McCain campaign revealed today that Sarah and Todd Palin have announced that their 17-year-old unmarried daughter Bristol is pregnant.

The couple said in a statement that Bristol will keep the baby.  (Duh!! What else could she do with the baby?)

When news broke, it had not yet been reported by her home state papers, which have often been the source for outside media for other background on Palin.

When the Anchorage Daily News did report the news today, it pointed out: "The Daily News had asked Palin's press secretary, Bill McAllister, over the weekend to address rumors that Bristol was pregnant. 'I don't know. I have no evidence that Bristol's pregnant,' he said on Saturday."

Reporter Kyle Hopkins updated that later: McAllister said he found out this morning along with everybody else. I said people might find that hard to believe. 'I guess they can call me a liar then, but that’s the truth.' Again, he said the only time he talked to Palin about it was when she approached him and said rumors about Bristol weren't true."

The McCain team asserted that he knew about the pregnancy when he selected Palin. She has five children and now a grandchild coming as she hits the campaign trail.   (The McCain team has to save face)

Steve Schmidt, a top McCain spokesman, said: "Life happens." Reporters pressed him on whether McCain knew about this before he picked Palin but he would only say that McCain knew "last week," meaning it could have been before or after.  (Life happens whether you want it to happen or not)

Time magazine's Web site reported today, from Wasilla, that it was an "open secret" around time that Bristol was pregnant. If McCain did not know about it, this would be revealing.

The Palins' statement continued: "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. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support." (What else could Sarah say that would not cause more damage?)

CNN.com reports that Palin "indicated during her run for Alaska governor that she was a firm supporter of abstinence-only education in schools. In a 2006 Eagle Forum questionnaire, Palin indicated that she supported funding abstinence-until-marriage education programs instead of teaching sex-education programs. 'Explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support,' Palin wrote in the conservative group’s questionnaire."  (What's she going to do, throw her daughter out of the house?  Looks like Sarah Palin needs to pay more attention to her children's needs instead of running around all over the country).

The Anchorage Daily News reported earlier today that rumors had abounded in the state for months that Bristol Palin was pregnant. This turned out to be true, but what it fostered was other rumors that she was the real mother of Sarah Palin's fifth child, who was delivered in April.

The Tribune Company's political blog, The Swamp, reports, "Mark Okeson, the assistant principal at Wasilla High School, said Sarah started her junior year there last fall, in the town where Sarah Palin grew up, but Bristol transferred to an Anchorage high school mid-year. 'I never heard the story why,' he said Monday."
 

Note:  Last I heard, having sex with a minor is a crime and punishable in prison.  Palin says that Bristol's boyfriend is going to marry her?  Hmmmm , this I like to see!  Sounds more like a shotgun wedding!