GOP Responds to Palin Buzz

ST. PAUL, Minn.—As Alaska Governor Sarah Palin prepares to accept the Republican nomination for vice president tonight, members of the party nationally as well as at Harvard say they’re unfazed by the news that Palin's unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

The news of Bristol Palin and her soon-to-be husband, high school senior Levi Johnston, has raised questions as to the thoroughness of the process by which John McCain's campaign vetted the 44-year-old mother of five.

Republicans have been quick to hammer back at critics, saying that they should heed Democratic nominee Barack Obama's calls for the families of candidates to remain off limits.

"Gov. Palin is in a situation that so many American families can identify with," said former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert of Illinois. "We all have children or cousins or nieces or nephews who have found themselves in the situation that Governor Palin's daughter finds herself in."

Hastert also said that the McCain vice presidential team did its due diligence during the vetting process.

"Senator McCain's vice-presidential vetting team knew all of these issues beforehand, and they understood that these issues would eventually come out," he said. "What matters to Americans is how Governor Palin will deal with this, and I think they will be proud of the decisions that Governor Palin and her family have taken so far to address the situation."

Caleb L. Weatherl '10, the immediate past president of the Harvard Republican Club, said he was annoyed with critics trying to make an issue of the matter.

"I think the pregnancy of Bristol Palin is a non-issue," Weatherl said, "and I'm disgusted by the fringe elements on the left that are trying to politicize this sensitive, personal family matter."

However, Weatherl said he appreciated Obama's call for the media to leave the families of candidates alone.

"You love your kids, no matter what they do," said Representative Heather Wilson of New Mexico. "As a parent, I know that your children are your first responsibility. Politics don't matter nearly as much as the care that you have for your children."

As the party continues to rally around the presumptive vice presidential candidate, Hastert said that he was not entirely surprised by the pick, despite his own preference for McCain’s running mate.

"I've worked on numerous issues with Governor Romney, Representative [Eric] Cantor, and Governor Jindal," Hastert said. "All three of these men are fine gentlemen who could have made great VPs, but I also know that Senator McCain wanted to make a completely unconventional pick."

”Put simply, she fits the McCain mold," he said.

—Staff writer Prateek Kumar can be reached at kumar@fas.harvard.edu.