Bristol Palin's pregnancy raises issues of privacy, judgment

ST. PAUL -- Delegates to the Republican National Convention, as well as Democrat Barack Obama, reacted sympathetically Monday to the disclosure that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's unmarried teenaged daughter is pregnant. But others said the revelation raised questions about John McCain's judgment.

Steve Schmidt, chief strategist for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, insisted the party's ticket would not be hurt and said the idea that 17-year-old Bristol Palin's pregnancy would affect Palin's ability to be vice president "is demeaning."

"People's families are off-limits," Obama said in Michigan. Bristol Palin's pregnancy "has no relevance" to the governor's performance, he said.

"As long as they're going to get married, I don't have a problem with it," said Chuck Yob, a longtime Michigan party leader.

Other delegates have doubts.

"I think there will be a period of surprise and questions: When did McCain know and what did he know?" said Priscilla Rakestraw, a Republican National Committee member from Delaware.

McCain learned of the pregnancy last week, Schmidt said, before he offered Palin the spot as his running mate.

McCain adviser Mark Salter said Palin disclosed her daughter's pregnancy to rebut rumors on the Internet that Palin's son, Trig, who was born in April and has Down syndrome, is Bristol's child. The campaign also disclosed that Palin's husband, Todd, was arrested in 1986 on a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Palin and her husband said in a statement that Bristol, the second of their five children, will marry the baby's father, identified only as Levi. "As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support," the Palins said.

Democratic consultant Mark Mellman said the revelation raises questions about McCain's judgment in picking Palin, who has been governor less than two years. Mellman called it "a complete lack of intelligence gathering and interpretation. … It raises profound questions about him."