>Your first sentence makes my point (I think - I'm afraid I got a bit lost in it - especially the part about everybody hopping on Biden and Obama). Nobody asked about her decision to have the baby because they didn't have to. That information was proudly trotted out by her and her cohorts themselves. Her son has Downs, ok, so what. He should have been left out of it all just like her daughter should have been left out of it all. In fact, when you get right down to it, the information about her daughter was also first brought out by Palin herself - not that it was going to remain hidden long. But she brought it out hoping to preempt the criticisms and to capitalise on the business about how proud she was of her daughter for keeping the baby and marrying the guy. Two children pretty much being forced to marry because of stupid misplaced public scrutiny, and she's proud. We'll see how long this marriage lasts, and if it even happens.
>
>Obama took the high road on this one, and whether or not that was strictly for public consumption or not remains to be seen.
>
>If I sound a bit cynical, I guess it's because I am. I'm not always like this, but I tend to get this way during election campaigns.

I think what is not entirely accurate in your statement above is this: "That information was proudly trotted out by her and her cohorts themselves."

As far as I know, the information was only made public because blogs (and then the media picked up on it) suggested that the baby with Down's syndrome was not her's, but her 17 year old daughter's. They tried to set the record straight and in so doing, had to publicize the fact that the 17 year old is pregnant (not as if that wouldn't have come out very soon anyway)...

What I do find amazing is that the media is all over the incidents in her family's history (above and beyond this situation) and still has not adequately questioned or investigated the issues with Obama himself (those I've mentioned too many times here already) and McCain as well.