I heard a caller this morning on the Diane Rehm Show on NPR ask the same questions. I started listening to the conversation late, so I'm not certain who her guest were, but the McCain supporter (I think he was a Minnesota Congressman) reiterated that conservatives continue to be supportive of Bristol's choice to raise the baby and marry the father and that they would react in kind to a similar situation if that had happened to a Democrat. I think the key to his response was that conservatives admire Bristol's choice to keep the baby and refute that her behavior is any more a reflection on the Palins' parenting skills than anyone else's children who disobey their parents. I tend to believe, however, that if a Democrat were in a similar situation, the focus would be on the candidate's values and inability to control his/her household, rather than the morality of the daughter's choice to keep the baby.

The guest who was an Obama supporter said he would hope that regardless of party, respect of the daughter's privacy would be observed.

Additionally, the question of the Alaskan secession came up during the show as well and the McCain supporter said that although he does not know exactly how she was affiliated with the party and its ideals, that her involvement and complacency with Alaskan secession was comparable to Obama's affiliation with Reverend Wright. Luckily, Rehm stopped that ridiculous argument dead in its tracks by explaining how being a member of a party and publicly endorsing its ideas is different than being an audience member to an occasionally controversial speaker whose views are his own.