Republican presidential candidates beware -- if Sarah Palin is even willing to sacrifice her own daughter to boost her popularity with voters, you don't stand a chance.
Bristol's former competitor Margaret Cho swears it's true! She writes on her blog that Sarah blames Bristol for ruining her vice-presidential run by getting pregnant.
If Margaret Cho is right, that's some mighty heavy guilt that Sarah Palin has packed onto her daughter. "The only reason Bristol was on the show was because Sarah Palin forced her to do it," Margaret writes. "Sarah supposedly blames Bristol harshly and openly... for not winning the election, and so she told Bristol she 'owed' it to her to do DWTS."
We contacted Margaret and she reiterated to Hollywoodlife.com that her source on Bristol and Sarah is "solid."
Now what was Sarah's reason for "forcing" Bristol to do DWTS, according to Margaret? She wanted "America to fall in love with her again" and to make it possible for Sarah Palin to run in 2012 with America behind her all the way. Sarah believed, writes Margaret, that DWTS would transform Sarah from "supposedly being handicapped by the presence of her teen-mom daughter" to having Bristol become a wonderful "asset, a celebrity beloved for her dancing."
If Margaret is correct, then Palin is truly more of an evil genius than even I thought. Evil, because laying that kind of an enormous burden of guilt on your child is unethical and inexcusable -- especially when your child is already coping with young, single motherhood.
Genius, because it's even more evidence of how brilliantly Sarah understands the power of pop culture to shape her public image.
Click to read how Sarah is using pop culture to win.