Bristol Palin’s Fiancee Speaks on Fatherhood, Presidential Race

Levi Johnston, the father of Alaskan first daughter Bristol Palin’s child, said he is embracing fatherhood and is not being forced into marriage by political pressures.

“We were planning on getting married a long time ago with or without the kid,” Johnston told the Associated Press. “That was the plan from the start.”

Johnston said that while he was initially nervous after the selection of his future mother-in-law, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, as John McCain’s running mate, things have relaxed since that point. “It’s pretty chill,” he said.

Johnston has since dropped out of high school to become an apprentice in Alaska’s oil fields, and he and Bristol Palin will wed in December. “I’m still the same old boy,” Johnston said. “I’m just a workin’ man.”

–Michael O’Brien