Bristol Palin Pregnant; Will Marry Father and Keep Child

This is a developing story, but MSNBC reports the following:

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us," the Palins' statement said.

"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. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support," the Palins said.

The Palins asked the news media to respect the young couple's privacy.

"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. We ask the media, respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates," the statement concluded.

I doubt the media will respect Bristol's privacy, and I further expect the left to have a feeding frenzy on Bristol's promiscuity and decision to have the baby. I also expect them to show their usual classlessness that they have already exhibited repeatedly since Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's running mate. Whether it was claiming that Sarah was faking being pregnant with her son Trig to cover for her daughter earlier this year, to pushing bogus nudie photos, the venom and hatred is flowing copiously from the fever swamps.

Hot Air has more.

UPDATE:
The NY Post reports that the McCain campaign knew about Bristol's pregnancy before they went ahead and proffered her name as his running mate.

I don't see this being a problem for Gov. Palin. It remains to be seen what the left does with all this news. Charles at LGF wonders what the reaction will be from the conservatives, including far-right Christian conservatives. I think they'll welcome Bristol's decisions to keep the baby and marry the father.

I'm also intrigued as to how the Obama campaign reacts given Obama's own broken home background and that former President Bill Clinton also came from a broken home. This does nothing to disqualify Gov. Palin as VP running mate, but it definitely will add yet more salaciousness to the political process at a time when it appears that everything imaginable is fair game in politics, especially when it comes against the GOP.

UPDATE:
Don Surber weighs in and provides some context, including statements made by Sen. Obama on the campaign trail.

UPDATE:
Jammie waded into the freak show of Daily Kos to pull some of the more unhinged comments. Unfortunately, that was the norm, not the aberration.

UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin also has a roundup of reaction and notes the distinctions between Obama's view on unwanted teen pregnancy and how the Palins are approaching their daughter's decision.

UPDATE:
Stop the ACLU points out Sen. Obama's response, which is appropriate to the situation. Stop the ACLU also posts James Dobson's response to the news of Bristol's pregnancy. It should put to rest any notion that this will affect the way conservative voters view Palin's presence.

This, however, might send some folks into a tizzy. That is indeed a little Israeli flag hanging in the background of Palin's office.

UPDATE:
It was an open secret in the Palin's home town. It also appears that Bristol was wearing an engagement ring on Friday, as per this photo from the Times. No matter what Obama's campaign says, the trolls on the Left will continue to attempt to mine this for their partisan political advantage. Problem for them is that this will only further alienate the left from the rest of mainstream America and folks don't take kindly to attacking a young girl who's facing monumental life changing decisions, including the responsible one of seeing through her pregnancy and marrying the father.

UPDATE:
Here's a closer image from Friday's announcement showing Bristol's engagement ring.