Sarah Palin and the Political Moms

Like many of you, I read Vanity Fair's profile on Sarah Palin Tuesday -- and Todd Purdum's profile is fascinating if for no other reason than its look at the slash-and-burn defense tactics of the Alaskan governor's shrinking inner circle. The line that gave me pause, though, was the same one that caught Jill and Bonnie: "She is by far the best-looking woman ever to rise to such heights in national politics, the first indisputably fertile female to dare to dance with the big dogs."

The first indisputably fertile female. My first thought was thank God that I missed the disputes on the fertility of other female candidates -- they probably only would have made me mad -- but, my second thought was to try to tally up female politicians who held office while also raising young children or pregnant. There weren't a lot.

Only eight congresswomen have given birth while in office. But the eighth, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), recently brought her new son to work with her to thunderous applause from her fellow representatives (though whether Joaquin Sanchez would have been welcomed into the Senate with as much delight remains unknown.)

Most female politicians do, indeed, have children -- but, they have usually waited until their children were older to pursue office. Nancy Pelosi, like Sarah Palin, is also a mother of five but didn't run for office until her youngest was grown. Of course, male candidates have been running for office for years with infant children and pregnant spouses (and, to my knowledge, no disputes on their fertility.)

So what say you, ladies and gentlemen? Are young children or possible future pregnancies still considered a liability for women who run, or have we moved past that?