In all fairness (and let me state for the record that I am no big Palin fan either), it was the main scream media that started much of that circus. There was a definite level of media unfairness towards her (people like David Letterman and Bill Maher, and those who thought their humor was funny) , but the way the Palins handled much of it wasn't the brightest way.
It's on this issue where I'll say it appears (I emphasize "appears", since I've obviously never met the kids) that the Obama kids have been well-raised not to go to bars or social media sites and toss out racial or homophobic (or other types of) comments. I'm not saying the Palin kids are bad, but Barack Obama appears to be the "tough love" type of father who makes sure his kids are doing well in school, etc. I'll give the man props for that.