Juneau, Alaska ? The tumultuous relationship between Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston took another surprising turn Wednesday, when the couple announced they were back together and recently got engaged.

The abrupt reunion between Sarah Palin’s daughter and the father of her toddler son felt like a flashback to 2008, when the couple shared the spotlight at the Republican National Convention. The romance later devolved into a messy tabloid drama as Johnston posed for Playgirl, trashed Sarah Palin in interviews and fought with the Palins over custody.

The fact that the two are back together isn’t likely to be a bad thing for Sarah Palin as she leaves the door open to a possible run for president in 2012.

“I think that the best solution for her longterm, and that’s a little calculating to say — but looking just purely from a political standpoint, the best solution for her is a successful reconciliation between Bristol and Levi,” said Tim Miller, a public affairs consultant who also worked on John McCain’s campaign in Iowa before Palin joined the ticket as the vice presidential nominee in 2008.

In this week’s celebrity glossy Us Weekly, 19-year-old Bristol Palin and 20-year-old Johnston say they’re engaged, marking a rapid turnaround for the couple that just months ago was fighting over child support and Johnston’s critical comments about the family.

The two are on the cover with their 18-month-old son, Tripp. The lead-in tease: “The reunited couple reveal their sudden, secret engagement — and why they hid it from Sarah.”

They tell the magazine they reconnected while working out a custody plan and got engaged two weeks ago. Bristol Palin said she found the idea of telling her mother about the engagement “intimidating and scary” but hoped she’d “jump on board.”

“It felt right, even though we don’t have the approval of our parents,” she said.

Sarah Palin, a former Alaska governor, and her husband, Todd, released a statement saying that as parents, “we obviously want what is best for our children, but Bristol is ultimately in charge of determining what is best for her and her beautiful son.”

“Bristol believes in redemption and forgiveness to a degree most of us struggle to put in practice in our daily lives,” they said. “We pray that, as a couple, Bristol and Levi’s relationship matures into one that will allow Tripp to grow up graced with two loving parents in his life.”

Johnston, who answered the door at Bristol Palin’s condo in Anchorage on Wednesday afternoon, confirmed the engagement to The Associated Press but declined to provide further comment on it. He said he wasn’t living at the condo.