Eschatonblog.com: I hope the media largely gives Bristol Palin the privacy she should be entitled to. Her mother is the candidate, not her.
Hotair.com: The Palins all chose life and lived their values. That doesn’t strike me as news. ... The Democrats won’t dare mention this as a campaign issue, and even the blogs will probably leave it alone soon enough.
Boomantribune.com: You know, I can make a personal decision not to talk about the fact that Gov. Sarah Palin’s 17-year old daughter, Bristol Palin, is five-months pregnant. ... But it doesn’t matter what decision I make. The Palins made the decision to turn this into a campaign issue when they accepted the nomination.
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said yesterday her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, following a weekend of simmering allegations on the blogosphere that Palin’s nearly 5-month-old son with Down syndrome was really her grandchild.
John McCain’s campaign said that the announcement was to rebut Internet rumors, including a post on the popular liberal blog “Daily Kos” filled with circumstantial evidence that Palin faked her pregnancy to hide that her daughter was pregnant.
“Generally speaking most [media] ignore these intensely personal issues,” longtime Republican strategist and blogger Roger Stone said. “What the media will cover is hypocrisy. If you’re pro-life but you send your daughter for an abortion, that’s hypocrisy. Since that’s not the case here, I see this as a one-day story.”
Both McCain’s and Obama’s campaigns called the story a private family issue that shouldn’t become campaign fodder and even some bloggers were calling for their comrades to keep the heat off Palin’s daughter, Bristol.
According to Amanda Marcotte, the former blog director for John Edwards’ presidential campaign, the fact that this family issue links to talk of birth control and family planning makes it one that could stay on bloggers’ radars.
“The problem with it is that the press release by [Sen. John] McCain and Palin highlighted that the girl had a choice,” Marcotte said. “But they’re against others having a choice. It’s a chance to highlight policy choices.”
McCain advisers said Palin told them about the pregnancy during lengthy discussions about her background. At several points during the discussions, McCain’s team warned Palin that the scrutiny into her private life would be intense.
Advisers said Palin’s daughter should be afforded privacy like the other candidates’ children.
“If people try to politicize this, the American people will be appalled,” said McCain adviser Steve Schmidt.
