Can Palin Juggle It All?

Tuesday's New York Times article, "A New Twist in the Debate of Mothers," interviewed women across the country asking their thoughts on John McCain's vice presidential pick, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

The article does not focus on Palin's role as a mother of five, -- her youngest is an infant suffering from Down syndrome -- but more on how that role will coexist with her new one as vice president of the United States if McCain is elected.

The article referred to the debate as: The Mommy Wars: Special Campaign Edition.

In 2008 is this debate really warranted? Just last week at the Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama praised Hillary Clinton for smashing 18 million cracks into the glass ceiling. The ceiling refers to the notion that women in the workplace can only rise but so high and seldom make it to the top.

How can we admire Hillary for keeping up with the old boys club one week and the next attack a sophisticated women who is trying to place crack 19 in the glass if not bust it entirely?

The article states men are refusing to touch the "mommy debate." So why are women?

One mother of two from Birmingham, Ala. is voting for Obama partly in response to hearing Palin went back to work as governor three days after her youngest was born. The decision caused the Birmingham native to question Palin's judgment according to the article.

Would that be her judgment as a mother or as a politician?

If Palin was willing to leave her newborn at home to get back to work, wouldn't that imply she will put our country before everything, even her own flesh and blood?

Is it even our place to question her parenting skills?

No one made the claim Obama would be a terrible father is elected because he couldn't spend time with his kids. Currently Obama has been on the campaign trail longer than Palin and has been away from his two daughters longer.

Would it be different if Obama had a six-month-old? Probably not. Many voters would expect Michelle Obama to take care of the child because some still believe part of a women's job is to take care of the children.

Why couldn't Palin's husband take care of them?

Would Hillary Clinton have faced this same opposition if her daughter Chelsea was younger when she ran for President? If Clinton did win the nod and did become president she would have to look after Chelsea and, perhaps a more daunting task, her husband Bill.

This point was joked about on late night talk shows and in political cartoons but no one brought up the seriousness of the fact that former President Clinton disgraced the oval office once before, who is to say he wouldn't do it again.

The bottom line is, if voters want to dislike Palin, dislike her for her anti-abortion stance or her passion for shooting Bambi. Don't hate her for being a woman in the 21st century trying to juggle it all.