Well, I’d say that we don’t know and don’t need to know the answer to your question. If you recall the Palins’ response when the newws first broke: Bristol and Levi have made choices that will face them with having to grow up fast, or something along those lines. That signalled to me that they understood that the kids had messed up big time but that the parents weren’t going to scold their children in public or let the public in on the exact nature of the process by which the parents would deal with the sad situation. I agree that marriage would probably be best for the child but the father and mother of the child need to make the decision to marry as deliberately, with full consent and as much maturity as they can muster at their ages. Neither you nor I are able to judge the details of this situation and I for one don’t want to know the details.
Let the Palins handle this. Period. Pray for them.
I disagree with your point of view. We’re talking about national politics, not “The Days of Our Lives”. When your parent is running for (or could be in the running for) public office, and your parent could be in a position to help save the entire nation, you don’t have the luxury of putting yourself first. By indulging in that luxury, the daughter made herself an object of national scorn and ridicule and undermined her parent’s position as a leader. I have no interest in Bristol’s personal or private life, but she should have bitten the bullet and had a very small and very private wedding as soon as she knew she was pregnant. If she had been my daughter, that’s what would have happened, and if I couldn’t persuade her to, then I wouldn’t think I could persuade a nation to vote for me.