ST. PAUL, Minn. — ST. PAUL, Minn. - In an effort to squelch Internet rumors about John McCain's running mate, the Republican presidential campaign announced yesterday that Sarah Palin's unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.
Palin and her husband, Todd, in a two-paragraph statement released by the campaign, said that Bristol Palin and the baby's father, identified as Levi, plan to marry. The campaign did not disclose the father's last name or age.
The surprise announcement comes just four days after the little-known first-term Alaska governor burst into the national consciousness as McCain's vice presidential choice.
The news landed unexpectedly in the hothouse atmosphere of a national political convention and raised a host of questions. Among them: how thoroughly Palin was vetted by the campaign and what political impact, if any, the revelation would have on voter perceptions of Palin and on Republican election chances.
McCain's chief campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt, told reporters that McCain "became aware" of the pregnancy last week but refused to say how the senator found out. The aide declined to say that Palin volunteered the information.
"The fact is, John McCain had a thorough search and made a decision," said Schmidt, who defended the choice and predicted that Palin "will change America."
The campaign also disclosed that McCain knew that Todd Palin, a commercial fisherman, had been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol 24 years ago, or about four years before he married Sarah Heath.
The statement about Palin's daughter was issued just before midday, in response to a Reuters news agency report about the pregnancy.
The campaign decided to confirm that report because liberal bloggers have been circulating what Schmidt described as a "smear": that Palin's fifth child, born in April, was actually her daughter's baby.
Campaign officials said Bristol Palin was five months pregnant, which would make it almost impossible for her to have been the mother of the family's youngest child.
McCain campaign officials described the teenager's pregnancy as the sort of challenge families face and asked the news media to respect the privacy of the prospective parents.
"If people try to politicize this, the American people would be appalled by it," said Schmidt.
Senior aides reacted irritably when reporters pressed for further information.
