From the Department of Stuff You Can't Make Up

I have yet to throw down a serious opinion on McCain picking Palin as McCain's running mate, but I've been generally positive, presuming that the McCain camp thoroughly vetted her and the main issue would be her experience. I've never felt the experience angle was going to work, given Obama's constant presence in the national spotlight since 2004 and the fact that he's been CEO of a massive corporation with thousands of employees intent on electing him President for the last 18 months. It's just not that convincing of a charge. Apparently McCain agreed, and is thus going with the much more disgusting tactic of attacking Obama's patriotism with the whole "Country First" thing. And hey, now they've got the Christian Right on-board and fired-up, so that's good right?

Well, that was assuming they actually vetted Palin... this story is so weird it's sort of hard to comprehend:

Yesterday the Internet was buzzing with the rumor that Palin was actually the grandmother of her 4-month-old baby, Trig. The allegation was that the baby was the child of her teenage daughter Bristol, and Palin faked a pregnancy to cover this up. How better to knock down the story that you're a grandmother and your daughter was knocked up than to reveal that you're about to be a grandmother and your daughter is knocked up (and that the girl plans to marry the father of the child)?

That was Emily Yoffe, who has more if you click the link.

I have no idea whether this is good, bad, or indifferent for the McCain for President campaign... but it's definitely strange.

UPDATE: See hilzoy for places not to go. Honestly, I see no political hay to be made here... my mother had my brothers when she was about the same age (18 and 19), so you should read no condescension in my bafflement at the fact that a VP candidate has an underage pregnant daughter. It's just so hard to see how the media will react to this that it seems an odd gamble for a Presidential campaign.