Frank says Palin's family background relevant

WASHINGTON—Rep. Barney Frank is among the first Democrats to publicly say Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's family background, including the pregnancy of her unwed teenage daughter, should be fair game for campaign discussion.

"They're the ones that made an issue of her family," Frank, D-Mass., said Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Republicans stressed Palin's conservative family values in announcing her selection as John McCain's running mate on Friday. Frank says the recent disclosure about her daughter blunts conservative claims that liberalism harms family life.

"Apparently she's a great favorite with the conservative social movement," Frank said. "They have said that it's liberalism and liberals who have undermined families -- same-sex marriage has been a problem, they don't want gay people to adopt ... This helps undercut those arguments."

Revelations about Palin's 17-year-old daughter's out-of-wedlock pregnancy and other family troubles reflect the stresses and strains of modern everyday life more than anything else, said Frank.

"Well, hers is a family in great turmoil," added Frank. "She fired the state police commissioner because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband. She has a daughter who became pregnant. That's not her fault."

The Alaska governor faces accusations of firing public safety commissioner Walt Monegan because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper, in what amounts to a messy Palin family drama dating to her pre-gubernatorial days.

In addition, the McCain campaign also disclosed that Palin's husband, Todd, then age 22, was arrested in 1986 in Alaska for driving under the influence of alcohol.

The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee has strictly avoided any comment on issues related to Palin's family, specifically anything focused on her daughter's out-of wedlock pregnancy.

"I think people's families are off limits and people's children are especially off limits," Obama said Monday.

Frank, one of two openly gay members of Congress and a prominent voice on gay rights, has himself faced political pressures relating to private life. In 1990, he was reprimanded by the House for using his influence on behalf of a male prostitute. Shortly afterward, Frank told a constituents' meeting he did not handle the pressures of being a closeted gay man in public life. He has won re-election ever since.