I'm just supposin' here...

[devinam]

...and for those of you who don't want to read political musings, you can skip this post.

About Sarah Palin...
She has 5 children. Effectively parenting 5 kids is a full time job.
She has a baby with Downs Syndrome. Parenting that *one* child is probably a full time job.
She's the governor of Alaska. I would think being a governor is a full time job.

Comments

[tannyho]

I may have misread your post, but it would seem that most of the presidents and vice presidents of the past also had children, and similar amount of other jobs. Why does her parental status come so heavily into the equation?

I *think* that if she is VP she would automatically lose being the governor?

not endorsing her or nuthin' ;) In fact I've heard fairly awful things about her, but what I hear is so infrequent and probably biased...

[devinam]

nah, i don't think you mis read it, and it probably came off harsher than intended. i have more to this thought, but i can't put it into words. i'd be curious if any other people running for office had 5 kids under high school age at home, though.

i think you guys are focusing on the parenting thing, that i'm saying she can't possibly be a good parent because she's a governer and running for vp, but i'm also focusing on the governor thing...maybe it's the other way around? she's a fantastic and present parent, but neglecting her office? after reading the NY times article i linked to, it basically said she was never available for people who needed to meet with her. which to me seems like she's failing her state in some ways. like i said, something's gotta give.

and again, if any of you have other contradictory information to what i put out there, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE forward it to me! i'm hunting and hunting for all sides of the story, and i'm just not finding much that favors her.

[silvana]

Unfortunately, this is essentially a sexist question in this case.

I know you don't mean it that way - but think about it for a second: Would you have asked it if she hadn't been a woman?

We've had hundreds of men a) holding jobs, b) parenting children, and c) running for office in the last century - and nobody EVER asks this question about them.

Which doesn't make it a bad question - it just means that we obviously hold women to different standards than men.

[devinam]

I think the reason it sticks in my mind this way is becuase that's one of the things she's touting all over the place..."i'm a mom with 5 kids" "i'm raising a baby with downs syndrome". it seems like *that* is one of the platforms she's running on. which just seems crazy to me!
believe me, i'm looking for every side about her, because i want to know the full picture. if you or anyone else has any other information PLEASE PLEASE share with me.

You do have a point about the sexist question. maybe i wouldn't ask it if joe biden had 5 kids and a baby with downs syndrome. Unless he (and the press) kept bringing it up.

like i said, just my brain musing things over.

[silvana]

Hmm... perhaps the sexism is in a different area. Anna Quindlen's column in Newsweek (that I just read last night) accuses the Republicans of being sexist for suddenly changing a lot of their views on working mothers and teenage pregnancy in order to woo Hilary supporters. (Anna Quindlen, although I love her, does tend to over-simplify the Republican party as being anti-women's-lib).

[monkeybard]

What gets me is that, according to one report (Sorry. I'll try to find it later so you can have the source.) they discovered early in the pregnancy that the fifth (There is no excuse for five individual full-term pregnancies in one marriage, IMO, so keep that in mind.) kid had Down's and yet chose not to abort. Why do that to someone you purport to love? Why put a child through the hardship of living in this world without all the faculties potentially available him? Which isn't to say people with Down's aren't good, lovable individuals who give to society. It is to ask why someone would make the deliberate choice make someone's life harder than it has to be when there is another option? And I don't believe either she or her husband is raising that child. They both have full-time jobs and then some. Sexist? No. If I saw evidence that her husband was a full-time dad, then fine. But I don't. I see a pair of people so caught up in their beliefs that they don't stop to consider the real-world ramifications of their actions.

[devinam]

That makes sense with everything else i've read about her. but, like i said, i'm HUNTING for opposition. and just not finding it. except things like "the media's not being fair" and "she's fantastic, we love her" but no rebuttal to what's been said about her. is she charismatic? yes. very. but i just don't think charisma is enough. there are way too many other things that are so much against what i believe that i just can't support her. in any way.

[devinam]

that would be awesome if he was a stay at home dad. i wonder...anyone know for sure?

[luriddreamscape]

Yeah. I'm having similar issues that you are. Mainly that there is NO actual information on her. Like we're only being spoon-fed what the GOP want us to hear. There are all these "rumors"...but where is the actual story

[devinam]

*sigh* yeah. i actually just got an anti-palin email from a friend of mine that looks pretty legit. i'll forward it to you, you can see for yourself.