Just when you thought gender had been eliminated as an issue from presidential politics with Hillary Clinton’s defeat and Barack Obama’s decision to offer the vice presidential spot to Joe Biden instead of Hillary, John McCain thrusts the issue back into the middle of the campaign by asking Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, to be his running mate. So, now we have race, age, religion–and gender–a veritable potpourri of issues that are staples of the workplace and employment law. During the next two months or so, we’ll continue to look at these issues and try to glean some workplace and employment law lessons. In light of the news about Palin, let’s look at gender anew.

Two negatives about Palin have already surfaced that sound an awful lot like negatives that surface in the workplace. First, she’s too young and inexperienced. What’s remarkable about this criticism is that she’s only three years younger than Obama, and if her experience is thin, it’s only barely thinner than Obama’s. Obama has received so much publicity during the last 18 months that the criticisms directed his way early on about his youth and lack of experience have faded. The fact is that neither Obama nor Palin has anything close to the experience in government that McCain and Biden have.

One of the things that angered a lot of women was that giving the Democratic presidential nomination to Obama instead of Hillary smacked of business as usual in politics and the workplace: bypassing an older, more experienced woman for a younger, less experienced man. Now that a new woman has entered the picture, it’s said that she’s too young and inexperienced. In the workplace, letting a young, inexperienced male have a chance at a big job but denying the same opportunity to a young, inexperienced female would be gender discrimination.

Second, Palin is the mother of five children and is soon to be the grandmother of her 17 year-old daughter’s baby. How can she possibly have the time to be governor or vice president with such a complicated family life? Before gender discrimination was made unlawful in the workplace, that question would have routinely derailed a woman’s chance of being considered for a top job–sometimes, any job. Since this question is being so openly asked about Palin, it’s a safe bet that it’s still asked in the workplace, just not as openly. If asked, it’s evidence of an employer’s gender discrimination.

I’ve used Hillary’s candidacy a number of times in trying to address workplace gender issues on this blog. Now that Palin is in the mix, these issues can continue to be addressed as the ‘08 election keeps rolling. Palin began her new campaign by saying that the women of America have been given another chance to break the highest and hardest glass ceiling there is. We’ll see.