You don't need a briefing book on being a mother to answer this one:
What do you do when your daughter comes home complaining that she wants to drop off the swim team or never go to school again because the other kids are being mean and saying terrible things about her family?
Sure, the first few times, you want to beat up the bullies with your bare hands. But you don't. These are life lessons. You tell her about "sticks and stones," you tell her to swim even faster, laugh in their faces, and prove by her success that she's better than they are. Listen to your mother, you say, mothers know about this.
Sarah Palin didn't just take a political risk when she quit the governorship of Alaska without completing her first term. She took herself out of electoral politics for good. Alaskans will never again elect her. And half a term as governor will never be seen as enough to qualify for the presidency.
Especially for a quitter and a sore sport.
Was Palin treated unfairly by the media? Sure. So were Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton, and Katie Couric. Most "first" women are. They also get much more attention, fame and celebrity, and better seats at Yankee Stadium.
I have the utmost respect for women who decide to put aside the fame to raise and protect their children.
Problem is, I don't think Palin's goal is to give up the limelight. I think she thinks she's heading for places where the lights shine much brighter than they do in Siberia-adjacent.
We don't know what the issues will be in 2012 or 2016, but in every election, character and judgment are critical. Palin will forever be the quitter. In tough times, she walked. Faced with critics, major budget problems, and investigations into her ethics, she skedaddled. If she can't stand the heat in Alaska . . .
And judgment? It's easy to feel like a little girl when it's your ethics and your kids being attacked. That's why kids need mothers (and fathers), and why politicians need advisers. I have no doubt there were many people around Palin who told her not to quit. Judgment is about listening.
The question Palin answered incorrectly last weekend didn't require her to study up on Supreme Court decisions, or to remember names of newspapers. It wasn't a liberal trick or an ambush by the mainstream media. It should have been a softball for a woman who sold herself as bringing the wisdom of motherhood to high office. And getting it wrong is not a mistake voters are likely to forgive anytime soon.
Susan Estrich appears frequently in The Inquirer.
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