Well well well. What have we here? Governor Sarah Palins 17 year old daughter is pregnant. But what's even more strange is the fact that despite this bit of information, Sen. John McCain knew that the Alaska Gov. teenage daughter was pregnant when he picked her for his running mate - he had learned about it in a private conservation with Palin last week, according to McCain's chief campaign strategist.
But campaign chief Steve Schmidt, calling it a "private family matter,'' says the campaign only decided to disclose the pregnancy when "smear'' rumors started surfacing on the Internet. He suggested somewhat ruefully today that once word got out, the media could not be trusted to handle the matter with "decency.'' It should have no bearing either on the race or Palin's ability to serve as vice president, he said.
"Life happens in families,'' Schmidt told reporters crowding around him in the basement of the arena where the Republican National Convention is opening today. "If people try to politicize this, the American people would be appalled by it.''
The campaign was forced to disclose the information, the manager suggested in his talk with reporters here. "We knew that Gov. Palin's daughter was pregnant,'' Schmidt said, "and there were frankly a lot of disturbing, nasty smears moving around on the Internet.'' So the family decided to issue a statement today. "You have hope on issues like this that our very coarse media culture will act with some level of decency,'' he said. "The fact is that's probably a naïve view.''
The campaign also knew that Palin's husband Todd, a commercial fishermen, had been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol 24 years ago, Schmidt said, and also decided that should have no bearing on her candidacy.
McCain learned about the pregnancy in a private meeting with Palin, Schmidt said. "It was a private conversation. Sen. McCain was aware of this private family matter... He became aware of it last week.''
Schmidt wouldn't specify whether Palin volunteered the information, but he did agree that it would have been an inappropriate question for McCain to ask Palin - indeed perhaps an "illegal'' question in the course of a "job interview.'' The campaign is playing it as a private matter that was disclosed today and will not be raised again. "The children deserve to be left alone,'' Schmidt said. "Her daughter has made a decision to have this child. She'll get married. Like any young couple with a child, it's hard.... "She's proud of her family and she loves her daughter''
Will the daughter's pregnancy have any bearing on Palin's ability to serve as McCain's running mate?"I think your question is offensive,'' Schmidt said to a reporter asking the question. "It's a private family matter. The notion that that would bear on her capacity to be vice president is demeaning. I don't think you would ask that question if she was a man.''
3 comments:
Maybe they are going after the woman vote, the vote from parents with down syndrome chldren AND all of the pregnant newlywed teens that are legal to vote. Wow, she's covering ALL of the bases!
The last part where Schmidt said it was a question that would not have been asked if she was a man is bullshit. If i believed in abstaining and not having sex til i was married and then my daughter went and got pregnant and i was the vice president nominee, and i was a guy damn straight that question would be asked because its so fucked up that your DAUGHTER got pregnant and you believe in abstinence.
I have to wonder why Palin decided to have another child after 40, she already had 4, was the baby a choice? Also after reading this story I have to wonder about her mental state as a person. She experienced signs of early labor, had leaked amniotic fluid and didn't go to the hospital but instead made a speech and flew back to Alaska
http://www.adn.com/626/story/382864.html
quotes from above article.
A Sacramento, Calif., obstetrician who is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said when a pregnant woman's water breaks, she should go right to the hospital because of the risk of infection. That's true even if the amniotic fluid simply leaks out, said Dr. Laurie Gregg. "To us, leaking and broken, we are talking the same thing. We are talking doctor-speak," .
Palin never got big with this pregnancy. She said she didn't try to hide it but didn't feel a need to alert the airline, either. Palin said she wanted him born in Alaska but wouldn't have risked anyone's health to make that happen. "You can't have a fish picker from Texas," said Todd.
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