We are all happy for Miss Palin and congratulate her on her engagement.  Senator Obama's statement that candidates' families are not to be part of the political debate is a laudable position as well.  I believe no one intends to make Bristol Palin's situation a political issue, myself certainly included.
What must happen, however, is that serious questions be asked about Ms. Palin' readiness for the office she is a candidate for, and about how his selection of the Governor reflect on John McCain's judgment and readiness to lead.
Bristol Palin's pregnancy seriously undermines the notion that Gov. Palin is ready to take over as the first in line to the presidency. The Governor is the mother of an infant who will have special needs throughout childhood, and now we find out that another one of Bristol -- who is seventeen years old --is pregnant as well. Gov. Palin has a poor record of keeping personal and family matters separate from official duty, by which I refer to the firing of the AK public saftety commissioner. This record does not assure the public of Gov. Palin's ability to attend to the obligations she will face in the next four years in being a parent to both a child with special needs as well as to a teenager with an infant child of her own, AS WELL AS manage the rigors of the continuous preparation necessary to be ready at any moment to become the Commander in Chief of the U.S. military as well as the chief executive of the entire U.S. government.

If it is true that John McCain did know of the Bristol Palin pregnancy when he made his decision, this shows a stunning lack of seriousness about the real-world, post-election importance of the vice presidential selection. Conversely, if he was not aware, this only serves a further evidence of the minimal vetting Gov. Palin received before her selection. Either circumstance raises significant questions, despite his experience, about Sen. McCain's judgment and therefore to his claim to be 'ready to lead.'

These are legitimate questions about Senator McCain's judgement as well as Governor Palin's ability to serve in the office for which she will be nominated in two days.  Asking them does not turn the pregnancy into a political issue.  Rather, it raises necessary questions about John McCain's judgment and readiness to lead, as well as serious concern about leadership at the top of the U.S. government in the unlikely but possible event of Sen. McCain's election and quick incapacitation as President.
The press must not be intimidated by the Bill Bennetts among them into credulously neglecting these real questions, and should they be, the Obama campaign must not be afraid to raise them directly.  False charges of sexism or fear of undue politicization of candidates' family circumstances cannot be allowed to prevent a full examination of voters' legitimate concerns.