bristol's baby

reuters is reporting that bristol palin, sarah palin's 17 year old daughter, is five months pregnant.

the news is being reported now, according to a senior aide to the mccain campaign, to put to rest "despicable rumors that have been spread by liberal blogs, some even with Barack Obama's name in them..." the rumors are "a real anchor around the Democratic ticket, pulling them down in the mud in a way that certainly juxtaposes themselves against their 'campaign of change."

what does this say about palin's stance on abstinence-only education?

UPDATE 5:04 pm – commenter michelle says:

"I don't think it says anything really. I am not a Palin/McCain supporter, but I don't hold S. Palin anymore responsible than I would my mother for the mistakes I made as a teenager. I think we need to be careful not to jump on a moral bandwagon as democrats and judge her motherhood. DANGEROUS..."

far be it from me to jump on a moral bandwagon, and i completely agree with michelle – dangerous. barack obama himself has already said the subject is "off limits."

but i do think the issue may come up (and rightly so) during the campaign: palin is a supporter of abstinence-only education. no matter where you end up on that issue, how do we talk about it now knowing the situation palin and her family are in? and no matter what the campaigns say, does that situation not have an effect on voters? (and shouldn't it?) and let's imagine for a minute that it's 1993 and it's not teenager bristol palin who is pregnant, but teenager chelsea clinton.

who thinks we wouldn't be talking about it then?