That Old Feeling Of Hating "The View" Is Returning

I had looked forward to the return of "The View," the ABC daytime talk-fest that Barbara Walters helms. I thought about Whoopi Goldberg and how much I admire her, so when I tuned in yesterday as I caught up on e-mails and organized my desk, it all came flooding back: Elisabeth Hasselbeck makes my head want to explode. Okay, so I admit it:My name is Candy and I am a liberal. Satisfied? Like anyone would be surprised by that. I try so hard to be open minded, but when I hear her talk I want to scream.

For two days I've heard her tow the GOP line extolling about the virtues of Gov. Sarah Palin, making statements about sexism and just completely contradicting everything she said about Lynne Spears when HER teenage daughter was pregnant.

I have been reading lots of columns by people (Maureen Dowd and Ellen Goodman) much better versed than me in this arena, but as a mother of three I have something to say.

On "The View" yesterday Sherri Shepard was all behind Elisabeth's support of Palin saying that "Hey, if she can be in charge of a family if five she can do the job of vice -president." Really? Is this how low the bar has been set?

I am a single mother of three. From the time my youngest was eleven I was the primary parent of her and her thirteen and eighteen-year-old brothers. I did this while building a career as a journalist, going to school and dealing with a myriad of teen issues, some of them very serious issues. This however does not in any way qualify me for the vice presidency.

I've thought a lot about my own sexism in my surprise over McCain's pick and I decided that I would feel the way I do whether the pick was a male or female.

As a parent I would never want to put a child of mine in a situation like Bristol Palin's through the scrutiny of a national political battle. There are times - whether you're a mother or a father - that you put your kid's needs before your own. Given that she gave birth to a son with special needs just four months ago, it just seems like she's throwing her family under the campaign bus to get what her ambition desires.

I sat on these feelings for a couple of days because I was kind of embarrassed. My objections to her should be solely based on her beliefs -which believe me, they largely are, but as a parent my first thoughts went to,"Wow, five kids, one with Down Syndrome, one pregnant at seventeen, I think these people need to hunker in and take care of what's in right front of them at home." Yeah, family first my ass. Oh wait, I forgot, it's now "Country First."

Being a heartbeat away from the presidency isn't like being a co-host on "The View" Elisabeth and Sherri, if you screw up at work you might embarrass yourselves, but no one dies.