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Bristol in 2020?! Palin Talks Love Life, Politics, Parenthood...and Why Her Haters Can Keep On Hating

Say what you will (and oh, how we know you will) about Bristol Palin, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a famous face who's less interested in the spotlight.
/ Source: E!online

Say what you will (and oh, how we know you will) about Bristol Palin, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a famous face who's less interested in the spotlight.

Um, except, you know, when she's competing on reality shows, humoring job offers as radio's newest morning DJ or giving E! News an exclusive, all-access, Tripp-guided tour of her new Arizona pad. Which is exactly what the headline-grabbing political scion did last week.

In addition to giving us the full layout, Bristol dished the dirt on her new BF, Gino; her old BF, Levi Johnston; her political aspirations (as well as those of mother Sarah Palin); which Hollywood actor sends her into a fit of blushing; and when, exactly, Tripp may turn into a big brother.

Let's just say, you may be in for a surprise...

MORE: If we ignore the Palins, will they go away?

First things first, however: Sarah Palin may have seen Russia from her house, but little Tripp can see the stars from his. And this apparent genius child is shooting straight for them. That is, if his unbiased mama may say so herself.

The "typical 2-year-old" is currently enrolled in swimming and ice-skating lessons and, according to his doting mother, is already proving to be the brains of the Palin clan.

"I think he's smart, but maybe I am biased just because I am his mom," Bristol told E! News ' Giuliana Rancic during the tour. "But no, I think he's really smart."

While Bristol laughingly admitted that she has no friends in Arizona, and said that she spends most of her time looking after her son, she has no regrets about how her life, at just 20 years old, has panned out.

"I am very content," she said. "Tripp's awesome...I know that God's plan for me was to have Tripp and it definitely made me grow, but I don't desire that lifestyle at a Frat house or at college parties or anything like that. And, umm, no, I am not envious of that kind of lifestyle."

What she has instead is a close-knit family, whom she returns to Alaska to visit frequently.

"I can't even go more than, like, three or four weeks without seeing them, so I am headed back to Alaska tomorrow," she said.

Her "supersupportive" parents have already been down to check out her pad, and luckily given it their seal of approval. Not that she's necessarily going to stay in McCain country forever.

"I definitely see this house as a home that is going to be in our family forever," she said. "But I don't see myself living here full time just yet. Tripp is not in elementary school, so I have that flexibility of being able to bounce around from Alaska to Arizona to wherever. But that's a while away."

Particularly if she ends up taking a local radio gig, having recently met with a station that's been quite publicly courting her. And while she's already powwowed with management about the position, well, apparently she does about as much preparation for an interview as her mother does.

"We are in the works with them," she said of the potential job, adding that nothing is yet set in stone. "Just to see when and what the logistics and stuff of it but it would be a lot of fun."

But when asked to explain a bit about the radio station, like, say, whether it played contemporary or pop music, Bristol was less ready with an answer.

"Uh, kinda. I don't really know, like, the actual genre of it," she said. Not that it matters all that much. "I think it would be a fun job. I already get up really early so it would fit my schedule. And it would be fun, I think."

Also potentially on the horizon for Bristol: going back to school, when such an opportunity for a single working mother arises. "Hopefully" writing a book. And then, you know, with whatever time she has left, running the free world.

That is, once her mom is done with the gig.

"I think she would be a wonderful president, and I still think that she should run...She's just so common-sense conservative....just, 'Here's what we've gotta do and this is how we're gonna do it,' and she brings a whole 'nother aspect to politics because she's a mom, because she runs a household, and I just think she's really smart."

But while Bristol clearly has no problem complimenting her mother, it's quite another story when someone else does it.

When asked about Tracy Morgan's recent public declarations of lust for the Tina Fey look-alike (his exact praise involved liberal use of the word MILF) Bristol said, "It's, like, embarrassing...like, my cheeks are probably red!"

As for Bristol's own political plans, she told E! News she will "probably" run for office one day, "but that would be further down the road.

"If I saw something that needed to be changed, then I would step up to the plate and do something about it."

Which means she's no doubt steeling herself for scrutiny the likes of which...well, actually, the likes of which she's probably seen quite a bit by now.

"I feel like for every one or two haters out there, there are 20 more people that support us," she explained of her family's propensity to serve as lightning rods. "So, it doesn't really affect me when people say negative things about me or my family, but I just really hope that nobody else has to go through that.

"If people are going to talk about us, then they are going to talk about us no matter what we are doing, and as long as we know that we are doing something good and we are doing something right, then it will be OK. I'm not worried about it."

But she is, at times, affected by it.

"I remember breaking down when Levi and I first broke up. Just with the things that they were saying then. That is the only time I have ever broken down about it. My family is so close-knit, and we do have really thick skin and let everything just roll off our backs. So it doesn't really affect us at all."

Speaking of her love life, Bristol saved the best for last and was surprisingly open about her current new squeeze. Who, as it turns out, isn't so new after all.

"He's great," she said of new beau Gino, who she actually grew up with in Alaska. "He's awesome with Tripp and we've been really good friends for a long time, and he's just a really good guy.

"He's a good guy," she repeated. "He's a family guy. He's a Christian. We have all the same religious beliefs and our families both come first in our lives, and we just have a lot in common...He loves Tripp and he's just awesome to be around."

Even better is that this time around, her beau has the approval of Ma and Pa Palin.

"They like him a lot," she said of her parents. "We spent New Year's at our cabin just recently with my family."

But despite the family affair, Bristol said she's in no rush this time around.

"I'm taking it really slow. I don't want another relationship that's out in the public eye like mine and Levi's was. So, it's definitely going to go slow. I'm not in a rush to get married or anything like that. We're only 20 and we're just having a good time right now."

But not that good a time.

"I'm going to wait to have kids until I'm a lot older... [Tripp] is a handful. He's a rowdy kid."

Like father, like son, perhaps. Speaking of whom...

Bristol revealed that she's had full custody of her boy since he was born, so his being based in Arizona has not been a problem.

"When Levi asks to see him, then I will make a trip to Alaska so that he could see him...I would love for Levi to be a part of Tripp's everyday life, but I know that for Levi's lifestyle right now, that's just not a possibility."

For now, Bristol said, what Tripp really needs--and which, she implied, his father could not provide--is "stability."

Still, Palin said, now that the media circus surrounding their relationship (or lack thereof) has died down, she said that things are going well between her and Levi.

"It's working out fine," she said. For cute little Tripp's sake, we think speak for everyone when we say, glad to hear it.

VIDEO: To watch the first part of our exclusive two-part interview with Bristol, tune into E! News tonight at 7 and 11:30 p.m. Can't wait that long? Catch another sneak preview now!