Handling the Bristol Palin issue

As a rule, whenever we are told that something should not be an issue in an election, it is.

Bristol Palin's unwed pregnancy may be off limits for politicians, but it is certainly not off limits to the press. It provides a hook to write stories on Palin's line item veto of support for unwed mothers and her support for discredited 'abstinence only' sex education.

'Abstinence-only' sex education was already an issue in the swing state of Pennsylvania where Ed Rendel had just accepted federal money for abstinence only programs after years of refusing it. While the issue may energize the base in the deep south, it is a distinct liability in most of the swing states.

But the biggest problem for the Republicans is likely to be Obama's call to respect the privacy of the children. Coupled with the pre-existing truce for the duration of Gustav this is going to make it much harder for McCain to do what he has to do to win the race: return to the previous strategy of sneer and smear. But McCain cannot do that unless he can plausibly claim that the Democrats fired first.

Democrats should: hold fire and rebut any attempts by the GOP to claim that they have crossed the line.

Republicans should: stage a 'Tonkin gulf' incident, for example post their own incendiary comments on a well trafficked liberal blog and ascribe them to Obama's team.