
Once upon a time, not so long ago, I said I couldn't imagine ever feeling comfortable voting for a woman for president. Then along came Hillary. Now, I want to make it clear that I don't agree with Hillary Clinton's outlook on life and politics, don't agree with her wanting to put big government in charge of me and my money, but I have a huge amount of respect for the woman. She was a class act at the Democrats' convention last week and I actually almost wanted to cry when she submitted Obama's name as the nominee by acclimation; that had to be hard. Over the past six months, Hillary Clinton has changed my outlook of women in politics. Good thing because of what happened on Friday. On Friday, along came Sarah Palin.
The only two things I can think of that Hillary and Sarah have in common are that they are of the female gender and they are both in politics. Actually, I'm not even sure about that second observation. Hillary is in politics; Sarah Palin is in government leadership. Having accepted John McCain's invitation to run as his
vice presidential choice, though, I suppose now she really
is in politics. And I think she can handle it. Not only that, I think I'm going to feel comfortable voting for her.
Having been a stay-at-home mom myself, I have to admit to a bias toward women who choose that job. But I know that there are stay-at-home moms that don't do a bit of good for their children, just as there are employed moms who are wonderful parents. I know that being a working mom doesn't automatically curse a family, that many well-grounded families can pull off raising their children while both parents work outside the home. I know that being a mom isn't an easy job no matter what. Sarah Palin and her family appear to be well grounded, down-to-earth, nice people with nice kids. I hope that's true because Sarah already has a lot of stressors in her life and has just taken on another huge one. I want to see her succeed.
Being a heartbeat away from the presidency is an important job, far more important than most people recognize, and I have to think that Sarah Palin, already serving as chief executive of a state, considered more ramifications of that position than I could even think of before she said yes to John McCain. I'm excited for Sarah and for her family. I'm even more excited for our country. Putting country first is part of John McCain's campaign slogan. I'll be praying for strength for Sarah Palin's family, that they can stand up to that competition.