My Not So Political Soapbox

At the risk of being permanently disowned by my family (especially my sister, her husband and my stepdad) I have to admit I’ve been too busy this week to watch any of the RNC. I’m quite sure this is almost as bad as rooting for UVA instead of Tech or not being a Redskins fan. I only admit this so that none of what I say in the next few sentences can be misconstrued as having a strong political bias, since I have little to no idea where McCain or Palin stand on the issues, and how they expect to “bring change to America”.

I whole-heartedly believe a woman can be an effective vice-president or even president. But in the case of Sarah Palin, how does a woman with five kids, one of which is a special needs infant, balance a campaign and a job position this all-consuming. How much is she willing to sacrifice? Already her seventeen year old daughter’s life has been openly speculated about and discussed in the media. How does she expect to juggle the responsibilities of raising a special needs child with trips to war-torn areas of the world. Raising a special needs child is an all-consuming job itself, thus the term SPECIAL needs. To me her presence in this campaign, goes against the very essence of republican “family” values. Does she really think the sacrifice of time with her children is truly worth the reward? I realize she has a very supportive husband, which helps, but with five kids I want to believe her family is important to her.

And then it hits me that despite my independent lifestyle and way of thinking, I still have very traditional and conservative family values (as we hear my family give a collective sigh of relief). To be brutally and painfully honest, if it was her husband in this position I would applaud him for pursuing his dreams, rather than questioning his devotion to his family. I want to believe a woman can have it all, but in reality when you take on too much something suffers. In this case what will it be, her family or the country. It may seem insignificant since she’s running for vice-president, but what happens if she is thrown into the role of president two years down the road? And maybe it’s just me, because my desire to be a mom makes me believe it is one of the most important roles in life and should take precedence over personal ambition. Of course, all this being said, I will begin to pay more attention to what she’s saying politically and let go of my personal bias, because it wouldn’t hurt to have someone with a little compassion and sincerity in Washington for the next four years.