Nation & World

<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Levi Johnston and his girlfriend Bristol Palin, daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., on Sept. 3.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Monday, October 13, 2008 Bristol Palin's fiance speaks out By Adam Goldman Associated Press WASILLA, Alaska -- Levi Johnston, who's having a baby with Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter, can't believe all the things he's hearing. No, he wasn't held against his will on the campaign trail. No, he's not being forced into a shotgun wedding with 17-year-old Bristol Palin. "None of that's true," Johnston, 18, said in a rare interview with The Associated Press. "We both love each other. We both want to marry each other. And that's what we are going to do." Standing in the driveway of his family home in this small Alaska town, Johnston spoke about the rumors swirling around him. The soft-spoken teenager discussed his relationship with Palin and how life has changed with fatherhood fast approaching. He agreed to talk despite the presidential campaign's advice in the days following Gov. Sarah Palin's nomination to avoid the media. "They're not telling me anything right now," Johnston said as he checked his Blackberry. "It's pretty chill." Not surprisingly, Johnston was a little shocked when he learned about Bristol's pregnancy, but he says he quickly embraced the prospects of fatherhood. The baby is due Dec. 18. Johnston has dropped out of high school to take a job on the North Slope oil fields as an apprentice electrician. Johnston hinted he's expecting a boy, but he declined to discuss baby names. "I'm looking forward to having him," he said. "I'm going to take him hunting and fishing. He'll be everywhere with me." Johnston, a Wasilla heartthrob, said he wanted to set the record straight. For starters, he said his much-maligned MySpace page was a joke -- the one that claimed he said: "I'm a ... redneck," and "I don't want kids." Johnston said his friends created the page a few years ago and he had nothing to do with it. Johnston said he has dated Palin since his freshman year in high school. "We were planning on getting married a long time ago with or without the kid," he said. "That was the plan from the start." While Johnston provided few details about next summer's wedding, the planning has started: A cousin will likely be his best man, and he has asked two hockey buddies, Ben Barber and Dane Wilson, to be groomsmen. Barber doesn't think anyone pressured Johnston into marriage. "If he thought it wasn't the right thing to do he probably wouldn't do it," he said. Johnston is an avid hunter. He's dark haired, tall and muscular, sports a bit of stubble and drives a red Chevy Silverado truck. He'd be the perfect cover for Field & Stream. He's bagged bears, sheep, elk, and caribou. Some of the antlers are scattered about his yard. Last July on a caribou hunt he lost a "promise" ring that Palin had given him. He said he decided to tattoo her name on the finger and not bother with more rings because he'd just lose them anyway. Johnston said he wasn't forced to campaign with Palin's mother. Bristol Palin invited him and Johnston jumped at the chance. It was a whirlwind experience for Johnston, who was seated with the Palins at the Republican National Convention. "At first, I was nervous," he said. "Then I was like, 'Whatever."' While Barber said his friend is a celebrity now, Johnston said it hasn't changed him. "I'm still the same old boy," said Johnston. "I'm just a workin' man." And now he's also about to become a family man. "We're up for it. I'm excited to have my first kid. It's going to be a lot of hard work but we can handle it." Wasilla hockey coach Bill Sturdevant, who was invited to the wedding, said he was sorry to hear Johnston wasn't going to return for his senior year of high school. But he said he believes Johnston, a talented hockey player, will find his way. "He's a tough kid," Sturdevant said. "He's taking everything in stride." What about Johnston's politics? The young man said he wasn't an expert on politics by any stretch. Asked about Barack Obama, he replied: "I don't know anything about him. He seems like a good guy. I like him." But Johnston still rooting for John McCain and Sarah Palin. "I just hope she wins," he said. "She's my future mother-in-law. She better win." READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out Unbelievable I am sure that if one of Barack Obama’s daughters was a teenager, unmarried and pregnant by a tough-talking black kid, what a pious outcry there would be from just exactly the kind of right-wing religious nuts that support Sarah Palin. We would have an endless diatribe on the decay of the “black family in America” and holier-than-thou preaching of the immorality of the Democrats as a whole. Instead these hypocrites are celebrating the difficult situation these two kids have gotten themselves into and continue to preach abstinence-only sex education. Absolutely unbelievable. Bob Winchell | Oct 13, 2008 11:33 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Who cares? Interesting how left out were the questions, "do you plan to actually go back to high school?", "what do you think of "abstinence only" birth control?", "what did your future mother-in-law promise you/threaten you with?", and "how come AP thinks anyone cares about this uneducated, ill-mannered, sperm donor who got caught in the public eye and decided to see what it would get him?" Oh right, he's taking his cues from the republican party and his future ex mother-in-law, the soon to be former governor of drill here, drill now, polar bears be damned, better known as Alaska. Cheryl Fontaine | Oct 13, 2008 10:44 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

1. Fighting foreclosure: How one couple got caught in mortgage crisis 2. Easy to steal, pricey to replace 3. 155-year boys club comes to an end 4. Monroe man's family remembers a life devoted to service 5. Future Seahawk? 6. No injuries in I-5 crash 7. Woman crossing street hit by car 8. Keep on ticking after you're dead 9. Hindus pray for peace at Bothell temple 10. Many Mexican migrants are heading home broke 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Colleges brace for massive cuts • Was burglary suspect burglarized? • Food banks facing hard times • Council member resigns, heading to D.C. • Edmonds closes aid car loophole • Wildcats head to state semifinals • Thanksgiving served with an outpouring of generosity • King's takes third at 1A state tournament • School closures recommended • Stillaguamish Tribe’s Angel of the Winds Casino opens new addition Dec. ... • Building energy independence from the ground up