"Another thing about being mayor of a small town is that you don't have all the opportunities like in high office to sell out to corporations, lobbyists and I've said too much."

Note how she doesn't bother to explain exactly HOW her husband is not out of touch. Also, wasn't it Dubya who was surprised at how expensive gasoline was while it'd been like this for several months already? Once again, the GOP doesn't even bother to lie with even so much as a smidgen of solidity because they listen to too much Limbaugh and Hannity in that they simply ignore inconvenient facts when faced with them with no valid retort.

This just in: Sarah Palin's unmarried, 17-year-old daughter (Bristol) is pregnant (and, no, this is not a headline from the Onion).

The McCain campaign says daughter plans to marry the father.

But one wonders (as the NYT does) whether this will give pause to millions of social conservative/evangelical voters. . .

from the NY Times blog, as of an hour ago:

_____________________________________________________________________________

September 1, 2008, 12:25 pm

Palin’s 17-Year-Old Daughter Is Pregnant

By Katharine Q. Seelye

ST. PAUL — The 17-year-old daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate, is five months pregnant, Senator McCain’s campaign advisers announced today.

The daughter, Bristol, plans to marry the father, the campaign said.

In a statement, Governor Palin 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 that she has our unconditional love and support."

The announcement was intended to counter rumors by liberal bloggers that Ms. Palin had claimed to have given birth to her fifth child in April when, according to the rumors, the child was her daughter’s.

Groups that oppose abortion rights had been thrilled with Mr. McCain’s selection of Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, as his running mate, partly because of her opposition to abortion. It is not clear how social conservatives will respond to the latest news.

The campaign intends to cast this as the kind of situation that ordinary American families face.

The McCain campaign says it was aware of her daughter’s pregnancy before it named her as the running mate on Friday.

The family’s statement said: "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."

At a rally at a ballpark Saturday evening in Washington, Pa., Bristol did not join the rest of her family on stage.

"Then we have our daughter Bristol, she’s on the bus with the newborn, and then we have our daughter Willow, who is here, and our youngest daughter Piper,’’ Ms. Palin said as she introduced her family. “On that bus we have our son Trig, who is a beautiful baby boy we welcomed into the world just in April. It’s his naptime, so he is with his big sister on the bus. But we thank them for being here."

"And speaking of Trig, and other things, some of life’s greatest opportunities come unexpectedly,"’ she said. "And this is certainly the case today. I never really set out to be in public affairs, much less to run for this office."

Seems as if moose laurels are no protection against loose morals.

Noam -- your earlier article on McCain's gambling style (as contrasted with Obama's) is starting to look more and more relevant:

blogs.tnr.com/.../john-mccain-s-gambling-problem.aspx