Swartz-Baxter: ‘It just discourages women’

Oregon delegate Melyssa Swartz-Baxter said Wednesday she was discouraged by the heightened scrutiny Sarah Palin has had to deal with since she was nominated to be John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) vice presidential candidate.

“It just discourages women who want to run because they get this treatment,” Swartz-Baxter said.

Swartz-Baxter believes that if Palin was a man, her family would not be subject to such analysis focused on her family. Since her announcement as a vice presidential candidate on Friday, Palin has had to deal with issues ranging from firing a public safety official to having to deal with the public announcement of her daughter’s pregnancy and impending marriage to the would-be father.