Hilary Clinton faced plenty of sexism when she ran. Now Palin is facing it, but sadly, a lot of it is coming from the left. This is a terrible double standard. When she is attacked like this, all women are being attacked. This is a profoundly anti-feminist thing to do. It is also really, really stupid politically.

Raising children is a great thing. Why is Palin being labelled a "hockey mom"? What's wrong with breastfeeding? Why are articles popping up (not here, I know) questioning Palin's child rearing practises - did liberals ever ask if Hilary used a nanny? We know she didn't stay home and neither did Bill. Where do we get this strange idea that a conservative has to be an at-home mom? Palin is a member of Feminists for Life and a high-achieving working mom.

Even the experience question seems to have a sexist tinge. Governor Kaine was seriously considered to be Obama's running mate although he is currently serving his first term as Governor after being a Lt. Gov. and mayor. His experience in office was only a few years longer and did not include foreign policy-making.

Whatever we think of Palin and McCain's politics, we need to stop attacking her for being a mom. It hurts the rest of us out here who are moms and in the long run, it will hurt the left, the Democratic party, and Obama.

She is referred to as a "hockey mom" because that's how she described herself yesterday.

We don't know much more about her than what we heard in that speech, so pundits are repeating it.

(1) She introduces herself as "hockey mom." That's not a perjorative.

(2) Kaine was mayor of Richmond (population 200K, about 30 times the size of Wasilla with a metropolitan area about 150 times the size of Wasilla), then lieutenant governor, then (in 2005) elected governor of a state with 7.7 million people, a diverse economy, and a combination of rural and urban populations. But it's not just size. Alaska's small population, unimaginably vast size, and huge dependence on natural resources make it very, very different from a governance perspective. Virginia is not Alaska.

Palin is a member of Feminists for Life

That doesn't mean feminist forever, if that's what you're saying. I'm pretty sure it means feminists against abortion.

I don't think she's qualified or ready to be president today or on Day One. I hope it's not sexist to say that.

I had the same problems with Obama, but the Democratic party overrode me. At least he's been running for two years and has faced questions, debates, and voters. Palin has faced nothing but a People interview.

Don't even start with this the "left is sexist" bs. You've fallen for the right wing trap. Who is really being sexist here? How about putting up some woman as vp, just because she's woman, becuase, hey, any woman will do. Forget Clinton's experience, forget Clinton's values, forget everything that Clinton worked for her entire career...let's vote for Sarah Palin because she has ovaries...just like us. That's crap and I seriously doubt most women will fall for it. Sure, if you are pro-life, believe in Creationism, believe in drilling anywhere and everywhere - including wildlife refuges, etc. etc. etc...if you toe the Republican party line, go ahead and vote for her. But stop with the sexist crap. She's a figurehead...do you honestly think the Republican's chose her because they think she is ready to step in for McCain, if need be and take over the leadership of the free world? Heck no...she's a gross political ploy...and that's not sexism, it's just a fact. You think the right wing is all pro-Hillary now and really, truly care that she didn't get the nomination because of sexism...well look what I just read on Rush Limbaugh's site....straight from Rush's mouth...."RUSH: She's (Palin) not going to remind anybody of their ex-wife, she's going to remind men, "Gee, I wish she was single." There is also this headline on that site: "Hillary's place taken by another woman -- again."

Now, tell me again who is being sexist here. Don't let yourself be played.

No doubt the right is sexist and McCain's choice is a cynical one. That doesn't mean it's okay for the left to be. I'm reading posts calling into question Palin's ability to govern because she's breastfeeding, because she has a Down's syndrome child, because it's hypocritical for a conservative not to be an at-home mom, because she has too many kids, etc. I read an article suggesting that if Palin had a nanny, she's not a good enough woman candidate.

This kind of stuff is insulting to mother/women. It is sexist and should not be tolerated just because it's coming from the left. It's not falling for a right-wing trap to criticize something the left is doing all on its own. It is, however, to the advantage of the right wing to go on making the kind of comments that will turn off women because they will feel insulted. We saw that already in the Obama-Hilary race.

What makes you believe those comments are coming from the left. I am read many left-leaning blogs, move in Dem circles, etc, and have heard NONE of these arguments coming from actual Democrats. That's what I mean by being played.

Meant to say "I read many left-leaning blogs...."

Feminists for Life oppose abortion. They are also feminists. They believe in things like equality in the workplace and stopping violence against women.

We don't know yet how Palin interprets feminism, but she has had children and been highly successful in her own career.

What is really bothering me is all the commentary focusing on Palin's child-rearing practices and her ability to be Vice-President. What I've seen has been going on on liberal blogs, not conservative ones. I find it sexist and irritating. I also think it could turn off some mothers and make them more sympathetic to Palin.

I think Republicans posing as liberals asking sexist questions about Palin's ability to raise her children and be Vice-President in hopes that people will then sympathize with her is just too complicated and subtle.

In any case, we still have Jane Smiley on the Huffington Post commenting on Palin:

"Who is taking care of the kids while she is away, including the baby? If it's the husband, I'm glad. If it's a nanny and always has been, then I want to know how a wealthy woman with a nanny helps women in general -- wealthy women with nannies are nothing new."

Presumably the same question would apply to Hilary Clinton or most women in politics.

Well in fact there's a good deal of ambiguity on all these issues of motherhood and child raising and equality between the sexes.

It's not clear that in this day and age, that a male candidate could really run for president or VP with a year old Downs baby. In such a case, it would be understood that the mother was taking on all the responsibility for the child herself. So that is that feminist? Would it be accepted by the public?

If it's 'feminist' for Palin's husband to do it, why is it not feminist if a wife has to do it? And what if there's a divorce or he plays around? (I'm assuming she'll be president, because is really the job she's auditioning for.)

What if they both passed off the responsibility to caretakers, so that one could be president and the other could be an active First Lady or First Man as Hillary Clinton was? Would that pass muster with the public? Are we really ready to accept that in the interests of feminism, our leaders should be like the old aristocrats of Europe, who in the interests of the State or society rarely ever saw or interacted with their own children?

I'm not sure that a female VP or president who gets to blow off her parental responsiblities to her young children--because she has nannies and so forth--is really going to be all that popular with the many millions of working single moms who have do both--be both a mom and a worker--without a man to take over part of the job for them. Or with the moms who by choice or necessity take some time off from work so that they can be with their children, and who thus lose pay or ground at work.

Not everybody is rich enough so that they can live like the president of the United States or the governor of Alaska. I think some resentment is going to be inevitable and it isn't all going to be just because people are sexist or 'anti-feminist.'