[sbaglio]

I disagree - if you make it about the families, it will be about the families.

Let's start with McCain. He never brings his children into the public arena, nor does he talk about them, except to mention briefly that he and his wife adopted a child from Bangladesh. I have no idea how many kids he has. He doesn't do it to gain points, IMO. He never mentions that his son is serving (in Iraq, if I'm not mistaken), though that could net him huge kudos.

John Kerry never talked about his kids and what they were doing. His daughter was a med student in Boston at the same hospital at which I did my residency. Barack Obama never mentions his kids to get a leg up. Does Joe Lieberman have kids? I wouldn't know - he never talks about them.

So it's all well and nice to say "keep the kids out of it". But when you purposefully put your kids in the limelight, all bets are off.

Palin told the world how her son had enlisted last year...on September 11th (da daaa!), and how he would be deploying to Iraq...on Sept 11th (da daaa!). Then she (and McCain's surrogates) let it be known how she had continued her pregnancy even though she knew the child had Down's Syndrome - like most people would have had an abortion or something. Again, fodder for the religious right.

So now when the news about her pregnant child is not so flattering, we're supposed to close that door that she opened and stay mum about it? She can't have it both ways.

Either keep your kids out of the limelight, or let that light shine. She made her choice in trying to appeal to the Republican base.