Ana Veciana-Suarez criticizes Sarah Palin in the Miami Herald for "Taking on a Bundle." How does she do it?
Sarah Palin, I mean. How does she juggle a baby with special needs, a pregnant 17-year-old daughter, a son going off to Iraq and the campaign for vice president? That's the question my friends, Republicans and Democrats alike, have been debating since John McCain nominated the governor of Alaska as his running mate.
Indeed, how does one grow an extra set of eyes and a second pair of arms while stumping for votes? Those of us who have tried -- who are trying still -- to balance career with children, 4:30 p.m. staff meetings with 6 p.m. football practice, a demanding promotion with a rebellious teenager, are curious about the miracle.
Regardless of what others say, I believe this is a legitimate concern. It's an issue not because she's a woman, mind you, but because she is being presented to us, the electorate, in the bright, shiny gift wrap of being a hockey mom. If Sarah were a Sam selling himself in a home-and-hearth tableau, I'd be inquiring too...
Yet, for all my admiration of Palin as maverick and corruption fighter, I'm taken aback by the choices she has made in other parts of her life. Family values? I guess it depends who is defining them and in what context.
Earlier this year, Palin flew to Dallas to deliver a speech at a Republican governors conference. Eight months pregnant, she left early because she went into labor. She then returned to work three days after giving birth. Now, with a Down syndrome baby who's not even five months old, she's on the campaign trail.
That's supposed to impress me?
It doesn't, not one bit...
Attorney Barry Jay Warsch, a lifelong Democrat, the former president of the Broward County Young Democrats, and a fellow who has never voted for a Republican, finds this kind of hypocrisy too much. He asks, "Really? Has there ever been any criticism of Robert F. Kennedy's campaign for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination, when he had 10 children (between the ages of 6 months and 17 years) and a pregnant wife at home?"
He asks that question, by the way, on his new blog...Democrats for McCain. Check it out here.
