Palin's Teen Daughter Is A Baby Mama!?!?

I don't really know what (if anything) to say about this, so consider this post an open mic. Sound off you know where.

John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin said Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, an announcement campaign aides said was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's.

A statement released by the campaign said that Bristol Palin will keep her baby and marry the child's father. Bristol Palin's baby is due in late December.

"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. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents," Sarah and Todd Palin said in the brief statement.

The disclosure of the pregnancy came on the opening day of the Republican National Convention, scaled back because of Hurricane Gustav, and three days after McCain named Palin as his running mate. The other news was likely to overshadow the disclosure.

The first-term Alaska governor was in Minnesota preparing for her acceptance speech when the campaign issued the statement; her family was home in Alaska.

"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," they added.

The father was identified in the statement as Levi, but the campaign said it was not disclosing his full name or age or how he and Bristol know each other, citing privacy.

Sarah Palin's fifth child, a son named Trig, was born in April with Down syndrome. Internet bloggers have been suggesting that the child was actually born to Bristol Palin but that her mother, the 44-year-old Alaska governor, claimed to be the mother.

I'm sorta divided on this one. Part of me says this flies in the face of all the "moral authority" mumbojumbo that the GOP so consistently advocates. It's not enough that McCain himself is a serial philanderer who may, or may not have been creepin' on CindyMac as recently as last year. Now, you've got a Veep who staunchly advocates her pro-life stance (which is certainly her prerogative), but seems to be using the fact that she just had a baby with Down's Syndrome to her political advantage. I'm watching Fox News (don't ask) right now, and none other than Bill Kristol is here saying this teen pregnancy "humanizes" the GOP.

On the flipside, part of me says this is none of our damn business. Unmarried people have babies all the time, whether their Moms are in the running for Leader Of The Free World or not. It's their business, and their baby to raise, not ours. This shouldn't be a story, and it probably won't be, not with Gustav floating around, as well as the scaled back GOP Convention.

Obama himself has already said as much, stating that Palin's daughter is "off limits", just like his wife and kids are. Never mind the fact that Cotton Hill McCain uttered the same thing, only to sit on his hands once his surrogates and GOP officials started unloading on Michelle-O.

Barack Obama, questioned about the pregnancy of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's unwed teenage daughter, said outsiders should steer clear of that subject.

"People's families are off limits," he said firmly. "People's children are especially off limits. They have no relevancy. I strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18."

Sarah Palin said today confirmed her daughter is expecting a child, and said Bristol Palin and the baby's father would wed. Obama was asked by a reporter about Palin's daughter during a campaign stop in Monroe, following the Detroit Labor Day parade.

Asked if anyone in his campaign had a role in disclosing the pregnancy of 17-year-old Bristol, Obama said: "I'm offended by that statement. There's no indication that any of this involved us."

Obama indicated he'd dismiss anyone from his staff that was involved in disseminating that kind of information.

That Barry is one classy dude, and a far bigger man than me. But I digress. Chat amongst yourselves.

Question: Is Palin's teenage daughter campaign fodder, or should candidate's kids be off limits, no matter what?

Palin says 17-year-old daughter is pregnant [FoxNews]

Obama: Steer clear of Palin's daughter [Detroit News]