Last political post... for today, at least

Still sifting through my email news alerts, and it's still all about Palin. Like, for instance, whether or not a mother of five (including an infant with Down syndrome) can possibly juggle the responsibilities of VP and parenting. It's an interesting question, because the knee-jerk feminist response is why should a woman be prevented from holding a job - any job - because she's supposed to stay home and take care of her family? But the more I think about it, there are very few Presidents (or VPs) in recent history that have had small children, particularly as many as Palin, or one with a disability. I don't want to say that she shouldn't be VP because of her parenting responsibilities (because hey, maybe her husband's willing to do all the parenting, or she can be super-mom and balance it all), but I certainly don't blame people for judging her and finding her priorities to be skewed (we are talking about a woman who went back to work three days after giving birth to a Down syndrome baby).

Also causing a stir is the announcement yesterday that Palin's 17-year-old, unmarried daughter is pregnant. I would think this would be a black mark on her conservative credentials, if her own daughter doesn't adhere to her beliefs. I do get Obama's "families are off-limits" line, and I mostly agree. But when a politician's family life contradicts their policy positions, you have to raise your eyebrows. But mostly, I just feel bad for the kid that now her teenaged screw-up is all over national television.

Interestingly, the McCain campaign insists that nothing that's been revealed over the past few days is a surprise to them, and Palin was fully vetted beforehand. I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse.