Moms On Issues
with Sara and Veronica
We're two moms with different backgrounds, jobs and points of view, writing about our opinions on the political and social issues affecting working moms. We'll also keep our eye on the media and the celebrity mom world to highlight issues that are relevant to your life.
Check out our personal blogs: Veronica's Blog and Sara's Blog
There are, for sure, many unanswered questions about Sarah Palin for Vice President. I have a list of about 50 that I’m not sure tonight’s speech will answer. There is, however, one thing about her that remains clear: Sarah Palin is a working mom.
But, because she happens to be a working mom with young kids, a lot of young kids, and because she’s vying for the second-highest office in the nation, the mommy war flames have been ignited all over again. Everyone seems to be questioning whether or not she could possibly be vice president AND be a mother to her children at the same time. And everyone has an opinion.
The New York Times found a way to create a front page story on the matter with subjective quotes from “working moms” all over the country, who want to give their two cents on if she can handle the campaign and her family.
In the article, one mom, Christina Henry de Tesan, a mother of two in Portland, Ore. said,
You can juggle a BlackBerry and a breast pump in a lot of jobs, but not in the vice presidency.
Ok, she might be right, but she might be wrong. When moms are asked to opine on the way other moms work, our conversation becomes a subjective one, not a productive one.
Yes, breastfeeding at work is hard. But maybe Palin can figure out a way to bring that pump on one of the country’s Air Force jets. Gee, pumping in a private room on a government airplane sure sounds a lot easier than squeezing yourself into a MD-80 lavatory. And if she doesn’t want to breastfeed at all? Well, that’s her prerogative too.
But that’s besides the point. I don’t really care so much if Palin thinks it’s better to be in Minnesota holed up in her hotel room than with her baby while she prepares for her speeches. We have all had times when we’ve burned the midnight oil and put other, more important responsibilities aside. I think it’s unfortunate that she promotes abstinence yet her daughter had an unplanned pregnancy, but I’m not sure it would have mattered had she worked or not.
Much has been made about how Palin went back to work three days after her special needs child was born. Does this seem odd? Yes, very. But would I use it as a yardstick to pass judgement on whether or not she could be the VP of our country? No, it’s not really relevant in my opinion. I mean, my husband went back to work three days after my son was born and no one batted an eyelash. But because we judge mothers who have demanding jobs in a different light, it’s all of a sudden the worst decision ever made.
I’m not advocating that Palin be our next Vice President. I’d rather have morning sickness for the next five months rather than see this ticket voted into office.
But I also don’t think it’s fair for the media to solicit irrelevant opinions and create Mommy War drama around how Palin manages her work/ life balance. It’s hard to separate a woman’s career from her motherhood, but as long as the media continues to throw the Mommy Wars in our faces, we as women aren’t going to get through the “18 million cracks.” Which is why I’m going to turn off my computer and tune into the television tonight to see what she has to say as a candidate, not as a mother.
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[...] all for your very kind wishes! All the good juju you sent my way today inspired me to post on my Work It! Mom blog … Now off to watch what shall be a very interesting VP candidate [...]
Back in the game, momentarily » Self-Made Mom | September 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Welcome back!
But your point is sooo wrong! Mommy wars are fun! You sling, I sling, we all sling mud!!
Ugh…The saddest part is that the GOP is framing all criticism of Palin and her mommy style as feminists flipping out on working moms. *sigh*
Veronica | September 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I don’t think her role as a mother has anything to do with her running for VP. I think those should be totally separated. Like someone else said here on this site, I wasn’t going to vote for McCain no mater who the running mate. I don’t know, I may change my mind before election day, but I just don’t have a desire to elect him.
Marcia | September 4th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Nice post. I agree it’s sad that any question of Palin and her background is now called “sexism.” I think we’ll get over that hump soon.
The REAL “sexism” issue that needs to be addressed is this: yes, when a MAN runs for office with five kids, we don’t hear anything about it. The reason? Because the moms are the ones who manage the majority of the parenting. It’s both the stay at home moms and the WORKING moms who are arranging child care, sports, transportation, lunches, playdates, doctor appointments, etc.
Do you know of ANY working dads out there who handle this stuff?
There is a clip on YouTube of two republican strategists agreeing — when they thought they were off-mic — that the Palin nomination is “b.s.” (Peggy Noonans’ word, not mine!) Dunno if this is kosher here, but this is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq4sOM4tpno
KeegsMom | September 4th, 2008 at 7:58 am
I’m sorry but I call a spade a spade! Running for the VP of the US is TOTALLY DIFF’T from being a corporate exec of even a fortune 500 company and I think this lady is in way over her head. Let’s be real and consider her stance since we”re talking about working moms and asking ourselves is she up to the challenge.
She’s a GOP Christian Conservative or a “pit bull with lipstick” as she said last night and she promotes abstinence and is against teaching sex education in our schools. Yet, she made her way up the ladder from obscurityy as a PTA/Hockey mom to Mayor and then Govenor of Alaska. If that isn’t having your sights set on an upwardly mobile career - I don’t know what is. That’s noble and I admire her for it.
But, I have a problem with her politics on this VERY BIG issue that everyone seems to being giving her a PASS on. She is vying for the second highest office in the country at a time when VALUES COUNT! She wants us to see her as one of us when her daughter is a very real example that while her mother was out climbing the political ladder and biting the backs of corporate strongholds her daughter was at home with her boyfriend whooping it up! What kind of double-standard is that? She wasn’t taking a very responsible role and balancing life/work issues very well. This job is going to take her all over the country ALL OF THE TIME. Unlike being the Govenor of a small fishing/oil community in Alaska. There is an honest question being contemplated about if this woman can really balance life/work with a pregnant daughter at home and a special needs baby! C’mon what would the AVERAGE MOM in her situation do? We all know and that is the major conversation going on in the US now with working moms who have decided that the demands of the workplace are too much to juggle between family issues. I think her daughter’s blunder is prime example that she’s in over her head! And the media and the public should stop trying to give this woman a pass on the fact that she’s got a lot going on at home that needs her immediate attention.
If you can’t control what goes on in your own home how can we as mothers relate to you and feel like your going to have our backs in the White House when John McCain keels over!? I am an Independent, educated Christian with conservative values and feel this situation deserves alot more press than its getting and that Palin should be held up to the same values that are the crux of her campaign message and that of the same Republicans who support her.
I feel she is getting a pass and talking out of two sides of her face. I am furious and don’t think she is a good choice at all. Not to mention she needs to be vetted as a Govenor first and needs some experience in Congresss first before she takes on this type of office.
Kelli | September 4th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Why are both of her sons missing from most of the family pics?
Robyn | September 4th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Also, this office is about decision making and judgment that does allow for your personal values to be mixed in with your political values and that’s what the Palin ticket is all about. Telling the American people who she is so they can judge and weigh that against whether or not she will carry over her personal values to do what is right for the American people in the political arena.
So the two are one and should be judged together. Just like they are doing for Obama when they tried to link him to Rev. Wright. The American people convicted him on the same charge that his personal beliefs would interfere with his decision making ability to carry out what the American people wanted.
Kelli | September 4th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I was curious about her speech and so tuned in last night. My impression is that she’s a thug. A lot of swipes and low blows.
I was so unimpressed that I turned the TV off 3/4 way during her description of McCain’s time in Hanoi … how ridiculous! She was describing it like she was in the nextdoor POW cell. Geesh …
Another aspect that made me unhappy is her reference to the war on terror and her/McCain’s willingness to veto legislation. After 8 years of this, it was a total turn-off.
KC | September 4th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I’m fine with leaving her being a working mom out of the equation entirely. Let’s look at the issues that matter to our country now. Is our country in better shape today than it was eight years ago? Do we want more of the same? Do we think that someone with a book-banning mentality and bury the head-in-the-sand methodology when it comes to sex education is a step forward for this country?
I’m more than happy to focus on the real issues and not get sidetracked.
JC | September 4th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
JC is right … I just CAN’T live though another four years of this mentality. Uuugh.
I was so upset that I contemplating making a contribution to Obama … something I’ve never done in a national campaign. I just read on the CNN ticker that the Obama campaign made a record 10 million dollars today, after Palin’s speech.
KC | September 4th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I’m so tired of people declaring that Ms. Palin’s daughter’s problems happened because of Ms. Palin’s career. Maybe you all are smarter than I am; I need some proof. Let’s hear some statistics, people. Because in my experience, the majority of pregnant teenagers I’ve known lived in homes with a SAHM.
SKL | September 5th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Obama is not being treated the same. He has young children. There is criticism over his children being on the campaign trail - but it is directed at his wife not him.
Her husband is willing to be a stay at home dad if that is what it takes. If they agree - who are we to judge. Dads can and do do these things. My husband is as involved as me and we both work.
I think that their are so many other issues regarding her that merit attention and discussion. I like and dislike many things. I am glad she is getting people interested in the campaign.
Stacey S | September 5th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I know I’m a little late, but one of the comments just blew me away. Kelli: You said “I think her daughter’s blunder is prime example that she’s in over her head!”
To imply that Palins career is the reason for her daughter’s pregnancy is against everything this site stands for.
Remember when Jenna Bush was busted with alcohol as a minor? Barely, huh? That’s because at 17 and 19 these girls are making their own decisions. Let’s focus on the real issues, not whether or not Sarah Palin’s job got her daughter pregnant.
Brenda | September 5th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
These discussions bother me SO much. In 1990, I was a state senator who decided to run for lieutenant governor. Our three children were between 7 and 15. How amazing that there were questions about whether I should be staying at home, what kind of clothes I wore, what my hairstyle was, etc.
After reading the comments on this site about Sarah Palin, I felt compelled to insert the following post from my blog:
This isn’t a political discussion, and yet it is. It’s just not a partisan political discussion.
I’m sorta (for non-Southerners, that’s “sort of”) glad Sarah Palin and Joe Biden are the candidates for vice president.
That’s because I sometimes wonder if elected officials, especially those in the highest offices, experience life like the rest of us do. I wonder if they have to make the tough decisions that the rest of us have to make. Sarah Palin and Joe Biden have some real life experiences.
Just after Joe Biden was first elected to Congress, his wife and daughter were killed in an automobile accident. His sons were injured in the wreck. He experienced tragedy and loss. Then, all of a sudden, he was a single parent. Later, he remarried, so he knows what it’s like to deal with “step” issues. His sons had a step-mom with his remarriage.
Biden was stopped in his bid for the presidency in 1988 because of issues related to plagiarism in a speech.
Sarah Palin has a special needs child, although since the child is just a few months old right now, she hasn’t yet had to deal with the problems to the extent she will have to over the next few decades. She has a pregnant teen-aged daughter, and we’ve learned that the teenager and her boyfriend will marry and keep the baby.
Sarah Palin is a working mom (and, yes, Joe Biden is a working dad, although his children are now grown); she has five children, one of whom is being deployed overseas later this month. Palin’s sister is divorced from someone who threatened violence and abuse against family.
In no way do I rejoice that these two candidates have had personal problems. However, even when we as the general public seem to want our politicians held to extremely high standards, we also want to know they understand the rest of us and the choices we sometimes have to make, don’t we?
Sherry Martschink | September 6th, 2008 at 4:44 am
Despite my extreme disagreements with Palin and what she stands for, I completely agree that it’s unfair to question her ability to be vice-president based on her anticipated home work load. If she can be an effective state governor under those conditions, then surely she can manage to also be a VP and even, should it come to it, President. I agree that the most important issue here is that nobody would have said the same thing about a male VP candidate: that’s what makes it sexism.
Daniel Weinreb | September 6th, 2008 at 6:19 am
The fact of the matter is that there are physical differences between men and women. A man can go back to work three days after his baby is born because he wasn’t the one who was pregnant and went through labor. There were no changes to his body (unless he has some sympathy weight ;)). A man can’t breastfeed. Only a woman can do that. A man didn’t go through labor so his body doesn’t need to recover. A man didn’t get an incision from a c-section or an episiotomy that needs to be cared for. So the fact that a man can go back to work without anybody batting an eye isn’t really a valid one.
I am a working mom with five kids. My husband is a stay-at-home dad and part-time college student. I know from experience that Sarah Palin won’t be able to do it all. We have this Supermom mentality that moms can do everything. It’s just not possible. Palin may be a great VP, but she will have to sacrifice some of her family time and motherly duties to do it. She may be a great mother, but will have to sacrifice some of her job responsibilities to do it. Ultimately the decision is hers and she has chosen to take on a very big role at some expense to her family. Does that automatically make her a horrible mother? No. Just because she’s VP doesn’t mean she’ll never spend time with her children. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t love her family. But the fact of the matter is she is choosing to sacrifice some family commitments for her career. That’s something I personally disagree with. I think it’s too much responsibility for a woman to take on and still give her family the attention they need and desire. I don’t believe it would work for MY family. But that’s her decision for her family.
Christine | September 6th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Different people are energized by different things. For example, if I had a job that required dealing with “people” all day, I’d be so drained that I’d probably be a lousy mother, friend, and housekeeper. But I have friends who are so energized by that type of work, that they come off their jobs much more positive and energized than they would be with another kind of job, and certainly more than they would be as a SAHM. Being energetic and enthusiastic, knowing you’re making a difference out there, is a wonderful quality to bring home to your kids. Sarah Palin may very well be one of these types, and it might just make her a better mother than I am.
On another point, Ms. Palin’s wee one is not a newborn. People are talking as if she just gave birth last week. By this time, most working moms are back at it. Even SAHMs don’t lie in bed for three months after giving birth; they are back running their households (including various other kids) as soon as they are kicked out of the hospital (one day or less for most women nowadays).
Finally, what do people think Ms. Palin would do with her 17yo daughter if she didn’t go to Washington? Sit around all day and hold her hand? Watch to make sure she doesn’t cheat on her fiance/husband? Why should it be any different than if Bristol was 18 and married when she got pregnant? Chelsea Clinton might have a kid in the next four years; so shouldn’t Hillary have refused to run for President lest she be needed at her daughter’s side for that eventuality? Let’s just come right out and make a rule that no fertile woman or mother of fertile women is allowed to run for president. But wait a minute, that disqualifies most women, doesn’t it? We’re making a lot of progress here on the WorkitMom site, aren’t we?
SKL | September 7th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I am very much a realist and like to believe that I am very open-minded……….I am currently a stay-at-home mom, former corporate executive that strongly believes that 1.) It is a woman’s choice to decide how high she wants to go (ambitious). 2.) It can be done, but something will have to give (typically home-life).
The fact as it relates to Sarah P is that no matter what her decision, it comes down to the issues and can she properly represent and act in the best interest of the American People. If she is willing to sacrafice her availabily at home to work for the American people, that is her choice. As long at the time she does spend with them is quality. The fact still remains that she does not represent my views on issues, therefore she is not a viable choice for me as VP of the United States.
Shannon P | September 11th, 2008 at 1:58 pm