Get a grip, ladies! Don’t allow Sarah Palin’s candidacy to reheat the “mommy wars,” to pit working moms against those who stay at home. Here’s what we find distressing: One set of women telling reporters they passionately agree with Palin’s decision that she can raise children and serve as vice president; another, equally passionate set of women decreeing that she’s bound to give short shrift to her family or her job, or both. It’s time to put this fight to rest.

“Is it sexist for people to ask how can somebody manage a family of seven and the vice presidency?” Cokie’s colleague at ABC News, Charlie Gibson, carefully asked the Alaska governor. Her response: “That question is kind of irrelevant because it’s accepted of course (that) you can be the vice president and you can raise a family.” As long as you’re a man.

When his question was posted on the ABC Web site, Gibson revealed, it drew 15,000 responses: “Every woman with young children struggles with this question, Should I, how can I, will I be able to?” Palin said she understands that. She also said she stayed home with her first child: “I had that choice then, and I’ve had choices, of course, along the way.”