Huh?

The oldest daughter of Sarah Palin, an unmarried high school senior, is 5 months pregnant. McCain knew about it before he asked Ms.Palin to be his running mate.

Bloggers and commenters on the left have noticed how ironic it is that a radically ProChoice politician who supports abstinence only programs has a daughter who's pregnant.

Bloggers/commenters on the right have supported the daughter's brave choice to have her baby. This proves that Sarah Palin is 'one of us' because most families have either experienced this issue themselves or knows someone who has.

I am confused, still, by why John McCain would have selected Sarah Palin to be our (possible, but hopefully not) Vice President. What was he thinking? It seems he decided this mostly on his own with just a couple aides. He just doesn't care.

An interviewer commented to Dick Cheney not too long ago that the American people are unhappy with the Iraq war and he said "So?"
I think John McCain is essentially saying the same thing.
"Senator, your vice president pick has an unmarried minor daughter who is 5 months pregnant while at the same time she doesn't support sex education in schools and believes abstinence is the correct form of birth control, she is under investigation by the Alaska Attorney General and Alaska Legislature for abuse of power yet you count her as an ethical reformer, and her public service experience is relatively short yet you discounted Barack Obama for the same thing."
John McCain would say "So what?" He really doesn't care.

From my perspective, the 5 months pregnant minor daughter would not be an issue if it weren't for the Governor's radical anti-choice and abstinence only stance. She's glad her daughter made a choice, but she doesn't want anyone else have to have the choice. And, she has first hand knowledge that abstinence only education doesn't work, but she doesn't moderate her opinion.
Her anti-choice position is so inviolable that 2 years ago she stated even if her daughter was impregnated by rape she wouldn't be in favor of an abortion.
Not every girl has the option of turning to a supportive family. In recognizing how fortunate her family is for having lots of people around to help care for her future grandchild, the governor doesn't take into account the reality that not all people have that support system.
Not only does she want to make their path more difficult by demanding they live by her rules and standards (have the baby, no matter what), she doesn't do anything to support women on the front end of the problem - sex education, birth control, self-esteem, male responsibility. She only has abstinence.
I fault her for not recognizing the humanity in everyone - no matter what choice they make in life. I fault her for not seeing her own experience as reason enough to doubt the rigidity of her moral convictions.

From my perspective, her lack of experience would not be an issue if the McCain campaign and the Clinton campaign hadn't made such an issue of Obama's experience.
I think many people have met natural born leaders in their life; people who have an instinct for leading. To me a leader is the center around which the activity happens - they provide a vision, a focus, and they keep in mind the overall goal of the country while managing disparate projects that wouldn't seem, on their face, to be interconnected. They give people the space to do what they're good at without undue interference, but they demand accountability as well.
Barack Obama has that outlook on leading. I've heard him talk about it. He knows that this election is about the people, not him. He talks about bringing all people together. That's leadership. I think Barack Obama is a leader.
Sarah Palin may be as well - experience doesn't make a leader. Again, I wouldn't have a problem with her lack of experience if the right didn't make an issue of Obama's experience.

Maybe it will turn out there wasn't any abuse of power on Sarah Palin's part. But, why select someone who's already being investigated?

McCain has turned political correctness on its ear, I think. Why is the Republican convention being modified during Hurricane Gustav? So it won't look like the Republicans are uncaring if the worst happens. Why does the right call itself pro life instead of anti choice (they're not pro life when it comes to capital punishment)? Because it sounds affirmative. (I think there are other examples of appearances, but I can't think of any right now)
Appearances matter in American politics these days.
Given that, why does John McCain not care about appearances anymore? Why does it not matter that Sarah Palin is under investigation for abuse of power?
I still don't get this one.