Let me just say right out of the gate that I am not endorsing any political candidate.  As a working journalist, it would be inappropriate for me to do so.

But I have to tell you:  As I prepare to return to work full time from maternity leave, I have found myself thinking quite a bit about another working mom making headlines these days: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.  I had never even heard of her before John McCain tapped her to be his running mate.

Palin is the ultimate working mom.  Besides trying to run a state, and trying to become the first female vice president in U.S. history, the woman has five children.  Five!  And these aren't your cookie cutter brand kids --- 

One is heading off to serve in Iraq.  Another is preparing to become a teenage mother.  And Palin's four-month-old baby boy has Down Syndrome.

No wonder political pundits are asking if maybe Palin might just be too distracted for D.C.

I mean, I think about my own life.

I have a six-year-old in elementary school and a three-month-old about to enter daycare.  I worry about making sure they're clean and fed and dressed and properly cared for when my husband and I are at work.  And somehow, when I can spare a thought away from them, I've got to focus on the demands of my own career.  Am I distracted?  You bet I am.  Because loving mothers worry about their children.  They are never far from our thoughts. 

And I don't have five kids.  And my children, thank God, are healthy.  And still firmly under my control. 

And I'm not trying to help run the free world.

So can Sarah Palin do it all? 

I can hardly wait to see what voters decide.