Another Hit for Sarah Palin’s Family Values Image

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:45 pm

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Sarah Palin’s political team was forced to get into damage control mode again, as Levi Johnston will reveal tomorrow on the Tara Banks show, that Gov. Palin allowed her teenage daughter and her boyfriend to share a bedroom in their home, and that she likely knew that they were having sex. This is not the style of parenting that will appeal to family values conservatives.

An interview with Levi Johnston will air on the Tara Banks Show on Monday, where here will say that the Palins likely knew the two teens were having sex, “I’m pretty sure she probably knew. Moms are pretty smart.” This prompted Team Palin to issue a statement to Us Magazine, “We’re disappointed that Levi and his family, in a quest for fame, attention and fortune, are engaging in flat-out lies, gross exaggeration, and even distortion of their relationship.”

The biggest sign that Gov. Palin is doing this to protect her run in 2012, is that the statement also says that Bristol Palin will advocate for abstinence, “Bristol’s focus will remain on raising Tripp, completing her education, and advocating abstinence,” Stapleton continues. “It is unfortunate that Levi finds it more appealing to exploit his previous relationship with Bristol than to contribute to the well being of the child.” If Bristol Palin does advocate abstinence, she will be contradicting statements that she made about abstinence not working to Greta Van Susteren on Fox News.

In February, Bristol Palin said that abstinence was not realistic, “No. I don’t want to get into detail about that. But I think abstinence is, like — like, the — I don’t know how to put it — like, the main — everyone should be abstinent or whatever, but it’s not realistic at all.” It is a shame that her mother is making Bristol flip-flop in an attempt to save her presidential ambitions. This teen soap opera has become a lingering drag on Palin. It wouldn’t be so bad, if Gov. Palin wasn’t trying to sell herself as the all American family values candidate. The problem is that this story has migrated out of the realm of the political junkies, and into mass culture.

If Levi Johnston went on MSNBC’s Hardball and made these statements, the damage would not be as severe, but Tara Banks has a program with a large day time following. It is the kind of non-political junkie audience that swing voters come from. I am inclined to believe Levi Johnston because if he was only out to sell his story, a book would already be out, and he would be everywhere.

Despite the Palin camp’s allegations that he is lying, the young man doesn’t seem to be exploiting this situation. I think that this more evidence that Sarah Palin isn’t what she claims to be. Instead of making her daughter look like a fool, Gov. Palin could be better served by being honest with Republican primary voters.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association