Greg Hollingsworth

Eight working mothers from the Virginia Run development in Centreville went together to the Palin-McCain rally yesterday because Sarah Palin is "just like us." This is something new. Nobody ever accused Franklin Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan of being just like us. "She justifies what we do every day," said Beth Tweddle, who works in sales and carried a sign she drew herself, saying "We [heart] Pit Bull Palin." Tweddle was already a McCain supporter, she said, "but Sarah just energizes us and got us out here because she does what we do, she lives like we do." "She's just as flawed as we are," Tweddle said. "It's not the fact that she's a woman but the way she does it all. And let me tell you: There're more American parents with unwed pregnant teenaged children than American parents with Harvard grads. She's real." Marc Fisher - For Working Moms, 'Flawed' Palin Is the Perfect Choice - washingtonpost.com.

To be honest, I'm not sure how to react to this. The women interviewed in this article are certainly entitled to their opinions, and who am I to say they are wrong.  Although, as a working parent (my oldest son was born when I was 20 and my wife 18) who has made it work for the last 8 years, I think I can add some insight. Personally, I don't think Sarah Palin is qualified to be Vice-President (or President) of the Unites States. First off, I don't buy that she has more "executive experience" than anyone else on the ticket (being mayor of Wasilla, AK pop. 9,000 and governor of the 47th most populous state for less than two years qualifies as significant executive experience). Honestly, I didn't think that Tom Vilsack (former governor of Iowa, the 30th most populous state) was qualified to be President or Vice President, and he served 2 full terms, and I voted for him, twice. Second, since when do we want people who are seen as "flawed" holding the highest positions in our government? We all have flaws, there is no denying that, but to be described as "flawed" by a society indicates something more than a little eccentricity or the occasional bad decision. I seem to recall people having similar feelings about President George W. Bush, who will go down in history as one of the worst presidents of all time. When we start deciding who runs our country by deciding which we would like to hang out with on a Saturday night, we are overlooking a significan part of the equation, most of our friends, are not qualified to be President of the United States. To think that Sarah Palin's qualifications (or lack thereof) are being overlooked because she is the mother of 5 children is disheartening. We need qualified people running this country, if they happen to be hockey mom's that's fine, but the Presidency is a position that should require significant experience in many fields that exist far above that of small-town mayor, or small state governor. George Bush was a two term governor of the 2nd most populous state, and when he leaves office his approval rating will most likely be the 2nd lowest in history, and Nixon was impeached.