Yeah, she's a little tart.

2008/9/1 Karen Lancaster <lancaster.karen@gmail.com>:

GOP VP candidate Palin's daughter is pregnant

17-year-old Bristol to keep the child and marry the father

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Palin daughter, 17, pregnant
Sept. 1: The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate
Sarah Palin is pregnant, according to a statement released by John McCain's
campaign. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.

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updated 11:07 a.m. CT, Mon., Sept. 1, 2008

ST. PAUL - 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.

Story continues below $B"-(B
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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.

Palin spokesman Bill McAllister emphatically denied those rumors, and McCain
adviser Mark Salter said the campaign announced the daughter's pregnancy to
rebut them.

'Life happens'
"Senator McCain's view is this is a private family matter. As parents, (the
Palins) love their daughter unconditionally and are going to support their
daughter," said McCain spokesman Steve Schmidt.

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"Life happens," he said.

"An American family," added Salter.

The 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 and that there was nothing she could do to prepare for it.

Advisers said Palin's daughter should be afforded privacy like the other
candidates' children. Said Schmidt: "If people try to politicize this, the
American people will be appalled."

Family is 'off limits'
In Monroe, Mich., Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama condemned
rumors involving the children of candidates and echoed the McCain campaign
argument. Said Obama: "I think people's families are off limits, and
people's children are especially off limits." Obama adamantly denied
anonymous claims that his campaign helped spread the rumors.

"I am offended by that statement," Obama said. "Our people were not involved
in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I ever thought that there
was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they'd
be fired."

Prominent religious conservatives, many of whom have been lukewarm toward
McCain's candidacy, predicted that Palin's daughter's pregnancy would not
diminish conservative Christian enthusiasm for the vice presidential
hopeful, a staunch abortion opponent.

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson issued a statement commending the
Palins for "for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values,
but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances." He added:
"Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your
children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration
when we confess our imperfections to the Lord."

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Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America called the
pregnancy private. "It's a matter that should stay in the family and they
have to work through it together. My prayers go out to them."

Added Combs: "We're excited about the governor and think she's going to do
well."

Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, said: "We're all
sinners."

"We all make mistakes. Certainly, the ideal is not to get pregnant out of
wedlock. But she made the right decision after her mistake," he said.