What a difference a few hours make. It is almost like Sally Quinn, the Washington Post faith columnist, was blinded by the light of truth on the road to Damascus. On CNN's "American Morning" on Friday, Quinn repeated her doubts as to whether Sarah Palin could "put country first" due to her family reponsibilities as a mother:
Everyone woman I know practically is a working mother. We have conflicts and guilts that men simply don't have. And, basically the burden of raising children falls on the mother, no matter what kind of a job she has. So, I think that to, you know, we're so far beyond the feminist argument here. This is not about feminism, it's not about sexism, it's simply about can you do the job? One of the things I noticed over this last convention is John McCain, they must have said it 1,000 times, I put my country first. He put his country first. And I think if you're talking about the commander in chief and that is what she is likely to be given his age and his health. Will she put her country first, or will she put her family first?
Well, something must have happened in the few hours between Quinn's CNN appearance and her apology for her own statements like this on Fox's O'Reilly Factor later that day:
SALLY QUINN: You pointed out the other night that you thought I was being unfair and that I had judged her before I heard her speak and that I knew anything about her and I think you were right. I thought that she was amazing in her speech. She was funny and smart and poised and confident and she gave a great speech, beautifully delivered, and I think she is going to be a formidable opponent. So all of that, I think I was wrong about her. And I didn't know anything about her.
BILL O'REILLY: So not only did Miss Palin do a good job as you just said but your column and other columns like yours rallied the folks to her side and actually helped the McCain-Palin ticket dramatically.
QUINN: Oh, I think you're absolutely right. I think that there's been a huge backlash against the media...
Kudos to Sally Quinn for recognizing that she was wrong about Sarah Palin. So will other media types currently sneering at Palin, such as Campbell Brown, also experience a similar revelation? I'm not holding my breath but after Sally Quinn's dramatic turnaround I guess anything is possible.
UPDATE: Okay, after analyzing Sally Quinn's signoff on Palin, perhaps I gave her a bit too much credit for the sincerity of her apology:
Sarah is a woman with five kids, one of which is a disabled child, who need an enormous amount of time and effort. “I need to know as a citizen—will she put her country or children first. You can’t do it all.
So the jury is still out on Sally Quinn but at least she is way ahead in the integrity department of certain vicious media types such as Campbell Brown and Jack Cafferty.
