edit: "It is not because you did something other people did not do."

Lots of negatives there, but I think my point came through.

Yes, this may or may not be the right place for me to throw in my two cents about this, but it's occured to me a lot lately: If we wish to espouse the idea of ones "right to privacy" and want candidates who will honor the idea as well, it's not right for us to ask for their medical records, tax returns, or - worst of all - who they voted for (I read a headline recently telling me that Bush cast his ballot for McCain, for instance. The secret ballot is an oft forgotten cornerstone of democracy. An educated and informed electorate is another). I know that it is presumably their choice to reveal the info, but they should be discouraged from doing so, lest they foster an environment in which those that do not choose to reveal the info are seen as suspect. At that point ones "right to privacy" becomes useless.

I could digress and say that their religious practices should also be kept to themselves and we should not want to know them, but I won't do it here. Or wait, I guess I did.

"I could really give a fuck"

Couldn't, surely.

I don’t know if we can consider medical record of VP candidate (someone that can potentially be in position leading one country) as privacy.

You can have 100 000 great plumbers, 10 000 professors, 1000 great doctors, 50 hot actors,10 great porn stars, 5 great singers, but...there’s one Palin. On that scale, logical loss of privacy can be projected respectively proportional to uniqueness of your greatness!

I think the "greatness" of discovering she had an abortion is directly related to her stance on it, not to public perception.

Look, as you probably know I'm pro-choice, and don't mind whether a political candidate or someone else had an abortion (or not). It does, however, matter now, in my opinion. Why? Because, if this rumor proved to be a fact (I don't think so, but that aside), it would expose Palin as a hypocrite to a wider audience; and yes, I've taken into account your excellent counterargument that says people change their views over time, make mistakes, and that sort of thing. I mean to say that Palin has built her persona upon the "illusion" of her being perfect in the eyes of anti-choice women (and men). That, to me, looks like betrayal if she lied on the issue of her rumored abortion. It would mean she deliberately hid "relevant" facts. It tells people that she probably won't respect the people when in office, too. If she had an abortion earlier in her life and she still wants to be the archetype of "virtue" or something, why, I would definitely want the whole picture. It would make her more honest and likeable.

Anyway, I'm not intending to wage war over this, simply because it's a matter of perception; it isn't really that important. As you say, Palin is "unqualified" and her political views are unpopular with many.

I do like to say, though, that I think it's strange that the candidates don't have to release their medical records. If someone has a strong tendency to go stark raving mad every full moon, I'd like to know such stuff. However, as this seems to be not required by law, fine: they shouldn't push the candidates if they intend to play hide-and-seek. In my opinion, an honest candidate would show the people who he or she is, really. Treat the people as grownups, not as children.