Suddenly, the liberal establishment is earnestly interested in traditional family life, and there is a good -- if cynical -- reason for this.

When Michelle Obama, a Harvard Law grad, appeared at the Democratic convention last week, she did not come a la Hillary Clinton, who bragged when her husband first ran for president that if you elected him you would also get her -- "a two-for-one, blue plate special."

Mrs. Obama did not pitch a co-presidency, but the image of a traditional family.

In her carefully crafted text, she said "Iraq" twice, "health care" four times and "family" or "families" nine times.

The Democrats made a calculated decision: Present Michelle Obama as a sister, daughter, wife and mother.

"I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president," she said. "I come here as a mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world. They're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night."

Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, struck a similar familial theme.

"My parents taught us to live our faith and treasure our family," Biden told the convention.

When Republican candidate John McCain, in the afterglow of the Democratic family fest, picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, we instantly learned she was the ultimate working mom: five kids, just one husband, youngest child a 5-month-old with Down syndrome born in the second year of her gubernatorial term.

Left-wing blogs soon slimed her with a vile lie. To knock it down, the Palins revealed that their 17-year-old was pregnant and intended to marry the father of her unborn child.

Some in the liberal media took this as a perverse opportunity to expound on their newfound dedication to family life. They saw the Palins as a bad example.

ABC's "Good Morning America" ran a segment Monday titled, "Family Secrets: America Reacts to Palin Family Pregnancy." It consisted of a focus group of women -- none from any part of America west or south of the Delaware River -- answering questions from Kate Snow.

Snow hit them with this zinger: "This is a bit of a flashpoint question: But does it (their daughter's pregnancy) say anything about the Palins' parenting; that, or the fact that she is away from the house so much?" Continued...