POLITICS AND PARENTING: “Obama was never seriously criticized for running—hard—for public office, often while holding down yet another public office, while his girls were little. People assume this is what male politicians do. . . . So there is clearly a double standard if Sarah Palin is to be called out for outsourcing some parenting responsibility even as she assembles her kids on stage. I don’t think there is any question that female politicians are judged more harshly for letting their careers create ‘distance’ between them and their children. Conversely, that Todd Palin’s hands-on caregiving could be seen as negative would be like criticizing Michelle Obama for picking up the parenting slack.”