Levi's comin'

Levi Johnston to join Palin family at convention

By RACHEL D'ORO – 3 hours ago

WASILLA, Alaska (AP) — The boyfriend of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's unwed, pregnant daughter will join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Levi Johnston's mother said her 18-year-old son left Alaska on Tuesday morning to join the Palin family at the convention where Sen. John McCain will officially receive the Republican nomination for president. The boy's mother, Sherry Johnston, said there had been no pressure put on her son to marry 17-year-old Bristol Palin and the two teens had made plans to wed before it was known she was pregnant.

Many social conservatives have rallied behind Gov. Palin and her family's troubles. The McCain campaign has said the Palins are like any other American family and that "life happens."

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said that Palin's family and her daughter's pregnancy were not relevant to her potential performance as vice president. "I think people's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics."

Just days after she was picked as McCain's running mate, Gov. Palin has become a lightening rod for attention. Aside from her daughter's pregnancy, it was disclosed that a private attorney has been retained for her in a legislative ethics investigation for her dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner. It also was disclosed that Palin's husband had been arrested on a drunken-driving charge two decades ago.