I still believe that Sarah's Palin's family should be completely off limits for the national debate about her candidacy. That said, in watching the video of her 2006 debate with Tony Knowles, the following exchange jumped out at me:
Moderator: If your daughter were pregnant or your son was involved in a pregnancy - what would your reaction - I mean, if were before marriage or anything like that - what would your reaction or advice to him or her be:
Palin: Again, I would choose life. And I'm quite confident that you'll be asking my opponents those same scenarios.
Moderator: I will. But if your daughter had been raped, would that be something you would -
Palin: Again, I would choose life.
Now, compare the phrasing of this answer to the phrasing of the press releasethe Palin family put out yesterday, which expressly states that it was Bristol Palin, not her mother, that made the decision to go through with the pregnancy:
"We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents."
Also, this statement, from the McCain campaign:
"Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said".
Video of the debate can be found here.
The question about her daughter's (then hypothetical) pregnancy is asked a little less than 15 minutes in (14:50, to be exact).
Again, I still think this falls in the 'off limits' zone for the wider campaign debate. And I think her original statement - "I would choose life" - is more a stock response to all abortion questions, rather than a literal statement as to who would make the decision for her daughter. Still, it's interesting to compare the choice-oriented phrasing of Palin's recent statements with her response in the debate.