By AISHA SULTAN, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
       The moment's most high-profile mom has the most unexpected cheering section. Head cheerleader and first lady of the modern conservative movement Phyllis Schlafly wanted to throw a party at the Republican National Convention honoring Sarah Palin long before she secured the vice presidential nomination.

       Palin, a woman who has chosen a career path that sidelines her family and whose ambition clearly trumps housewifely duties, has become the poster mom for "having it all."

       There was a time when a woman who made career choices like Palin would have been pilloried by the religious right, especially Schlafly.

       There was a time when Schlafly would have argued that raising a family of five children required a mother's full, undivided attention and was the most important job to which Palin could ever commit. In fact, Schlafly built her legacy by producing tomes of arguments proclaiming that a woman's primary responsibility is to serve the head of the household, her husband, and raise their children.

       Well, a lady can change her mind, right?

       In a prepared statement this month, Schlafly describes Palin as "an exemplar of all that is good and true."

       "We couldn't have asked for a better VP pick," she said.

       It says something remarkable about how the notion of motherhood has changed when conservatives are championing the idea that a preoccupied, constantly-on-the-road, working mom is an ideal to admire.

       Palin's got the support of the vast majority of evangelicals -- despite a religious platform that clearly lays out the role of a mother and wife. It doesn't involve flying to state funerals or going toe-to-toe with Vladimir Putin.

       Palin's notion of motherhood, how she views her role in the family, shows us that Sarah Palin is more a feminist than anyone on the right would ever like to acknowledge. There's not going to be much time on the campaign trail for dirty diapers and colic. The ‘‘grunt work'' of motherhood will be passed on to someone else -- presumably her husband.

       These are the so-called mommy wars commentators love to incite, but most of us are loath to judge the personal career and family choices of an individual mom. Palin's nomination brings these hot-button questions to the fore: What is the role of a mother? Can we be just as effective and nurturing if we see our children only for 15 waking minutes a day versus 10 hours? Will Palin's willingness to sacrifice being the primary caregiver for her children for the sake of her career resonate with the real soccer moms and room moms in the heart of the heartland?

       It's not a question of whether Palin is devoted to her family. It's that she's chosen to spend more time on the road campaigning for national office and declaring herself ready for the country's top job when she has five children, including a special-needs newborn and pregnant teenager at home. That's a lot to juggle.

       Does this exuberant conservative love for Palin signal a generational shift in the hearts and minds of the fundamentalists of the right wing? Has Rush Limbaugh, who delighted in calling out "femi-Nazis'' on his show and made a career out of mocking them, become a torch bearer of equal parenting standards for men and women?

       It was one thing for liberal Democrats to select a woman as a VP candidate 24 years ago. That was Schlafly's moment.

       But this is an entirely different moment in time. Even the most staunchly conservative Republicans may realize that statistics show that a majority of mothers work -- nearly 60 percent according to the most recent U.S. Census figures. And, oftentimes, the decision to go to work is not based on "personal fulfillment'' but the realities of supporting a family, being able to afford health insurance and keeping up with skyrocketing gas and grocery bills.

       Will it take a self-described hockey mom to move the conservative Republican base toward families in which the alpha-woman heads the household? James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, is one of Palin's strongest supporters and defenders. So does this mean he will take up the cause of making affordable child care accessible for all working women? Does Schlafly, who played a leading role in defeating the Equal Rights Amendment, believe Palin should be paid the same wage as Dick Cheney? Has she warmed up to the idea of equal pay for equal work?

       Some will argue that conservatives are using Palin's motherhood for political points. But Palin's contradictions make her authentic. Most mothers struggle with the choices they make regarding work and family. And even if Palin's political views (against abortion even in cases of rape and incest) make her anathema to the left, her personal choices don't exactly embody the vision of family values traditionally put forth by the right.

       Whether Palin hurts or helps John McCain's effort, working moms are occupying a new space in American politics. And, there's some delicious irony in the movement taking them
there.

Aisha Sultan is a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.