The GOP's Gov Child

Matt Cooper in St. Paul: I made the rounds at the parties tonight. All the talk was about Sarah Palin and the announcement that her daughter, Bristol, 17, is pregnant and is planning to marry the father, Levi Johnson. Leaving aside the political fallout, which I'll get to in a minute, this really was a case of new media driving the campaign.

For a couple of days rumors have swirled that Sarah Palin's son, Trig, five months old and born with Down's Syndrome, was in fact the child of her daughter, Bristol. Eventually the campaign responded to those rumors with what it said was the real story. Without the blogosphere pushing the story—erroneous though it was—we probably wouldn't know about this pregnancy, at least not yet. The old media, chained by quaint notions of accuracy, is brought along for the ride.

Where does this leave the McCain campaign? Conservatives I spoke with in Denver are still ecstatic about the Palin selection. Far from seeing Bristol's pregnancy as some kind of scarlet letter, they see it as even more proof of the Palin commitment to the right-to-life cause. Faced with not one, but two difficult pregnancies, the family chose to proceed and did not consider abortion as an alternative. Political operatives in the campaign that I spoke with also thought that the Palin family would seem sympathetic.

Journalists all over town are more skeptical. There's lots of chat about what if one more thing comes out about the Palins. Could it jeopardize her nomination the way that George McGovern was forced to jettison Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton from his ticket in 1972 after it emerged that he had been treated for depression with electroshock therapy? He was replaced by Sargent Shriver.

We're nowhere near that, but top reporters are descending on Alaska in hopes of discovering heretofore unearthed information about the Palins. Whether they find anything in the remaining 65 days of the campaign is uncertain. What is certain is that the convention is all abuzz about Sarah Palin and not about Hurricane Gustav or even John McCain. The party's hunkering down and the press corps smells blood. It should make for an interesting week.

By the way, if you get a chance, see Palin's interview with Maria Bartaromo on CNBC. She spoke to the Alaska governor about energy policy and while her questions are mostly fawning, the interview does show Palin to good effect. She's confident, determined and quick witted. There's none of the deer-in-the-headlights look that Dan Quayle gave off. I'm not saying that shows she's ready to be president. But the interview offers some insight into why Palin is so popular in Alaska and why the McCain team thinks they've found a winner even while the press corps is scratching its collective head.

Matt Cooper

Get more from the Republican convention in St. Paul with these:
-- The Republicans Get a Mulligan With Gustav.
-- McCain's Pick of Palin a Game Changer.
-- Drill, Baby, Drill!
-- Where to Eat in the Twin Cities.
-- How to Party Like a Rockstar TV Star With Republicans.

Get a recap of what happened with the Democrats in Denver:
-- Obama Gets Down to Business.
-- Are Obama's Donors Tapped Out?
-- Google's Schmidt: "They Have Guns and We Don't"
-- Why Does Everyone Want In on the Act?
-- I'm T. Boone Pickens and This Will Save America.
-- The Election According to Mr. Burns.
-- The Portfolio.com Capital Index.