Well, Palin obviously really scares the Democrats.If you believe that "the only bad publicity is an obituary notice" then she's a massive winner. The pregnancy will continue to play out between now and the election with plenty of photo ops and family stories, there may be a marriage or a betrayal (neither will be a problem,) she'll be photographed/spotted repeatedly in airports all over the country with a cute child, a pleasant smile and some down-to-earth commentary... and then when the dirt is dug, people will already feel like defending a new sort of politician who reminds them of the good old days when people never had to lock their doors and mayors would stop for a chat on the street rather than clattering overhead in the taxpayer-funded corporate chopper.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1