Allow me to turn to a national voice on these matters, Sally Quinn, at the Newsweek/Washington Post site, "On Faith."
From what little we know about her, [Palin] seems to be a bright, attractive, impressive person. She certainly has been successful in her 44 years. But is she ready to be president?
And now we learn the 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. She and the father of the child plan to marry. This may be a hard one for the Republican conservative family-values crowd to swallow. Of course, this can happen in any family. But it must certainly raise the question among the evangelical base about whether Sarah Palin has been enough of a hands-on mother.
But in fact, that awful "evangelical base" is not the least bit offended. Why should they be? Bristol Palin is having her baby, and a marriage with the biological father is in the works. That's a success story. It is only Ms. Quinn who sees something wrong. And there is more that Ms. Quinn is worried about:
McCain claims he knew about the pregnancy, and was not at all concerned. Why not? Not only do we have a woman with five children, including an infant with special needs, but a woman whose 17-year-old child will need her even more in the coming months. Not to mention the grandchild. This would inevitably be an enormous distraction for a new vice president (or president) in a time of global turmoil. Not only in terms of her job, but from a media standpoint as well.
So let me get this straight: a woman with a pregnant daughter is not fit to be Vice President because she will have to be attending to her family. A woman with a pregnant daughter and a child "with special needs" (Down's syndrome) is doubly unfit. This is the view of someone who believes in the rights of women? Sally Quinn is so afraid of a McCain presidency that she is willing to make a stay in the home argument against women in politics. If this were one of those evangelicals talking, feminists would be screaming bloody murder!
There is no doubt that the Palin choice has aroused primal fear in the Left. I am warming to Governor Palin quite a lot.
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