As I promised in my last post just moments ago, there is quite a spectacular a rumor about McCain’s new veep floating around, but it is just that: a rumor.
As Daily Kos would have it, Sarah Palin is not actually the mother of her supposed fifth child, the Down-syndrome afflicted Trig, a symbol of Palin’s unwavering anti-abortion standpoint. She is, rather, his grandmother. The actual mother, as the rumor would have it, is her 17-year old daughter, Bristol.
You can read about it at the link above and here and probably a million other places within the hour. Briefly, the evidence is as follows:
–Governor Palin never looked pregnant, shocking colleagues with her March announcement that she was seven months pregnant. In photographs leading up to the birth, she does not even vaguely look pregnant.
–Palin was in Texas on April 18, the day Trig was born, but felt comfortable enough while she was in labor to fly all the way back to Alaska to give birth in a tiny hospital outside of her hometown.
–Bristol Palin was out of school for five months, according to research by the Daily Kos blogger, under the guise of having mono.
Did the McCain campaign really do no vetting on this?
Speculation aside, what would the campaign implications be were this rumor true? Would Palin be applauded for taking care of her daughter, raising her grandchild as her own, and remaining staunchly against abortion? Or would she be criticized for being a liar? Given the photographic evidence, it seems fairly likely that the rumor is true; I just wonder about the political fallout.
this just in: her daughter is now 5 months preggers. abstinence only education wins again!
Said haaaa,
On August 31, 2008 at 6:33 pm:
I don’t trust the judgment of anyone who condones the name “Trig” for a child.
It’s a baby, not a racehorse.
Said Sprinkles,
On August 31, 2008 at 2:53 pm:
The most important views of SP come from people on the fence about who to vote for. The people with the strongest anti-Palin rhetoric come from people who would never vote McCain, anyway. So, does this pregnant status really matter?
Said Sarah Cohler,
On August 31, 2008 at 2:03 pm: