When John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate, many hailed his choice as brilliant – a young, working hockey mom who wasn’t afraid to take on the Establishment.

But The New York Times reports that some mothers across the country are doubting whether the Alaska governor — who has five children, including an infant with Down syndrome and a pregnant teenage daughter — has enough time to take care of her family and be the country’s vice president.

Plus, some say they are worried that any campaign stumbles might hold consequences for other working mothers.

"There’s nervousness among working moms of both parties that how she does in this race will reflect on the overall ability of working moms," Cindi Leive, the editor of Glamour magazine and a mother of two, told the Times.

Social conservatives, usually staunch advocates for stay-at-home motherhood, are mostly defending her, while some others, including some working mothers, worry that she is taking on too much.

"How is this really going to work?" said Karen Shopoff Rooff, an independent voter, personal trainer and mother of two in Austin, TX. "I don’t care whether she’s the mother or the father; it’s a lot to handle."

But Lori Viars, a mother of two and evangelical Christian from Lebanon, OH, cheered the candidacy as well as the decision of both Palin women to keep their babies. "The whole family is pro-life, and they put that into practice even when it’s not easy," Viars said.

Within minutes of Friday’s announcement that Palin was joining the Republican ticket, administrators of one website, D.C. Urban Moms, said they had received hundreds of postings about Palin and her family stresses, more than on any other political issue this year. Many women, citing their own difficulties with less-demanding jobs, said it would be impossible for Palin to succeed both at motherhood and in the White House.

"You can juggle a BlackBerry and a breast pump in a lot of jobs, but not in the vice presidency," said Christina Henry de Tessan, a mother of two in Portland, OR, who supports Sen. Barack Obama.