We haven’t touched it. But you probably know there have been internet-based rumors claiming that Sarah Palin’s newborn son Trig is actually the son of her 17 year old daughter, Bristol. In an effort to knock down these rumors, Palin and the McCain camp have now put out a statement claiming that Bristol Palin is currently five months pregnant with child, which she plans to keep and that she will soon marry the father.
I really do not know what to make of this story. But we wanted to keep you up on the latest and particularly the McCain/Palin statement.
Late Update: I’ll note also that the McCain campaign is lashing out at ‘liberal bloggers’ for this story coming to light and even perhaps the Obama campaign. I think we can chalk that down as another intemperate falsehood emanating from their campaign. I will note this. Vetting works in a fairly established way with most campaigns. The standard procedure in a case like this would have been for the campaign to have gone to a trusted reporter — and by that I don’t mean a hack but someone the campaign knew would deal with the story in an appropriate way — and given them the story about the family drama the Palins are going through, how the daughter is planning to have the baby, how it confirms the family’s values, etc. In an ideal world, the daughter’s life would be her own business. But in the world we live in the best for all concerned would be to give it a respectful airing on day one or two and take it off the table rather than have it come out in some more jagged and painful way. We don’t care about Palin’s daughter. Her life is her own. She’s not running for anything. What this does show is much more confirmation of what Republican operatives and pols are saying loquaciously off-the-record: that they don’t think there was any real vetting of Palin. Acting out from the McCain camp will not change that.
(ed.note: In the original version of this post, I wrote that “Bristol Palin is currently five months pregnant with another child, which she plans to keep …” The meaning of another was to distinguish this pregnancy from the rumor that she carried Palin’s son Trig. Several readers read this as an insinuation that this was Bristol’s second pregnancy. That wasn’t the intention and that doesn’t strike me as a logical reading. But to avoid any misunderstanding, I revised.)
Reuters lets anonymous senior McCain aide try to pin Palin daughter story on Obama camp.
AP circulates internal talking points for defending Ron Fournier.
Palin was such a foe of Ted Stevens that she helped run his 527.
The Alaska special investigator on the Trooper-gate case is currently in contact with Gov. Palin and they are scheduling her deposition. According to our report, it will likely take place in the next few weeks and will almost certainly be under oath.
It seems like reporters are zeroing in on the fact that today’s story about Gov. Palin’s daughter is a significant tell, suggesting a very rushed vetting process. McCain camp enforcer Steve Schmidt repeatedly dodged questions about whether Sen. McCain had known about the Palin’s family situation prior to inviting her to join him as his running mate.
From the Anchorage Daily News …
Reporters at the Republican national convention hammered McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt about the Palin pregnancy during a press conference. All Schmidt would say is Palin and McCain had discussed the pregnancy and considered it to be a private matter.
He wouldn’t say if they talked about it before McCain picked Palin as his vice presidential nominee.
“I answered that question nine times,” he said.
We had heard hints of this. But just moments ago, Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC said that Republican lawyers are currently doing a vet of Sarah Palin up in Alaska. We’ll get you the video shortly. But it seems that the really deep vet of Palin started after her selection was announced.