The politics of parenting: Is it realistic to expect that Gov. Palin could serve effectively as vice president when she’s a busy mom to five children?

Several years ago, Michigan’s Democratic candidate for governor, Jennifer Granholm, announced her candidacy for my state’s highest office. At the time, she and I were the same age and had similar families – young families. I knew how much effort and energy it took to keep things going at my house and I wondered if her children would suffer if their mother pursued the governor’s office. Years later, it’s clear Gov. Granholm and her husband are raising a healthy, happy family. Certainly they’ve all made sacrifices during those years – as every family must do for various reasons – but having a family didn’t preclude Gov. Granholm from public service.

Similarly, the fact that Gov. Sarah Palin plays many roles in life – wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and leader– means she is living to her full human potential. If you add the role of vice president, she’ll definitely be leading a demanding life. But you could argue women in politics lead lives that are no more demanding than  those who take on other powerful and difficult careers (think trial attorney, neurosurgeon, college president). I’m going to assume that Gov. Palin and her husband are fully capable of deciding whether they can bear the burden of her public service and that they will enlist the support they need to care for their family.

Moreover, our constitutional form of representative government was meant to call regular people into public service. Not just the people with exactly 2 kids. Not just the people rich enough to have household staffs. And not just those who forsake a full personal life in pursuit of political ambition. If we're committed to equal opportunity for all, that has to include equal opportunity for women who are mothers of five kids! (Spoken like a mother of four!).

The larger point needs amplification: The notion that a woman is incapable of using her many gifts and talents simply because she’s a mom makes no more sense than the idea that a father can be free to run the country because he isn’t needed in the lives of his children. Absurd ideas both!