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AP Photo/Stephan Savoia

Bristol Palin, 17, holds her brother Trig during the campaign rally where Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced Bristol and Trig's mom, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Even Republicans were startled by the announcement that the 17-year-old unmarried daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant.

A statement released by the campaign Monday said Palin’s daughter Bristol “came to us with news that we as parents knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned” and that their daughter “has our unconditional love and support.”

Such news so soon after a VP selection in campaigns and times past may have meant not only a scandal on Monicagate proportions, but possibly an automatic loss for the ticket in November.

This campaign and this time seem different, however.

The McCain camp admits it knew of the pregnancy even before selecting Palin on Friday, and it’s difficult to imagine such a massive ‘other foot’ dropping on the McCain campaign without it knowing.

But some political experts find it possible the GOP nominee made the decision of announcing the Palin choice knowing that the pregnancy in the family may actually help the campaign.

The calculation is a risky, but potentially beneficial one.

It would be very unlikely that Barack Obama and company would attack the news. Obama himself included teenage pregnancy on a list of things the Democrat nominee sees as needing improvement in America during his nomination acceptance speech just days before.

That’s not to say a portion of the partisan fringe wouldn’t take advantage of the story, and liberal blogs were abuzz of attacks and negative throws toward Palin’s family even before confirmation of the news broke Monday.

To the advantage of the McCain campaign, Obama was then all but forced to come to his rival’s defense.

“We don’t go after people’s families. We don’t get them involved in the politics. It’s not appropriate and it’s not relevant. Our people were not involved in any way in this and they will not be. And if I ever thought there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they’d be fired,” Obama said on Monday.

Behind closed doors, we can imagine Obama advisers singing a different tune. It’s a Catch 22 for the Democrat nominee, at least at the moment.

Obama has been accused of having difficulty connecting with the average American. By contrast, the Palin choice is a bid not only to shatter the glass ceiling, but serves as a strong conservative rebuttal to Democrats’ claims that McCain and other Republicans are out of touch.

That Palin’s ‘problems’ may actually help the campaign has not been lost on the political punditry.

As hard as Democrats try to portray a ticket of Obama and Joe Biden as blue collar to the bone, the credentials of each pales in comparison to a small town working mom raising a family of five children.

What’s more, McCain’s conservative base is sure to appreciate the decision on the family to keep the child.

Even attacking Palin's credentials while avoiding the latest news of the pregnancy of Palin's other family mis-steps may prove politically dangerous for Obama.

Any ‘ready to lead’ criticism surely to be raised by Palin’s rivals will inevitably lead to a discussion of what Barack Obama himself lacks in commander in chief credentials.

Meanwhile, Republicans stand to win the authenticity argument. What family doesn’t have a skeleton or two in its closet?

In any case, the question at hand will remain unanswered until November: has Obama's new tone of average American politics handed his rival a slam dunk?