One of the people who greeted John McCain at the airport when he landed in Minnesota on Wednesday was the father of the child of Sarah Palin’s five-months-pregnant, 17-year-old daughter, Bristol. McCain greeted the engaged couple warmly, spending a solid minute or two talking to both while repeatedly patting the shoulders of each with his outstretched arms, in an almost protectively avuncular fashion. Microphones could not pick up what he said, but the cameras showed what appeared to be a serious attempt to offer reassurance to the teenagers.
