Obama Missed Key Vote Due to Family

Sally Quinn said of the Republican VP candidate, "Is she prepared for the all-consuming nature of the job? She is the mother of five children, one of them a four-month-old with Down Syndrome. Her first priority has to be her children. When the phone rings at three in the morning and one of her children is really sick what choice will she make?"

It's curious that Quinn deems important the reaction of the Republican VICE-presidential candidate but not the Democratic PRESIDENTIAL candidate. Since this question is apparently legitimate, wouldn't it be more reasonable to ask, "What would President Barack Obama do when the phone rings at three in the morning and one of his children is really sick?" How would Obama react, what choice would he make, and what does his past record indicate?

In December 1999, State Senator Obama missed a key vote for exactly the reason Quinn cited above and the Illinois governor's reaction demonstrates how important Obama's presence was needed for the vote on the Safe Neighborhoods Act:

But then the governor discovered that two senators who had promised to vote for his compromise bill--Barack Obama (D-Chicago) and Kathleen Parker (R-Northbrook)--had decided to remain on vacation instead of returning to the capital for the third special session since the original law was struck down on Dec. 2.
Furious, Ryan tried to track them down, hoping to send a state plane to whisk them back to Springfield. ...and aides to Obama, who was in Hawaii, refused to tell the governor's staff how to find him.
"His daughter was his first priority," said Obama's campaign manager, Dan Shomon. Shomon acknowledged Ryan aides to tried to contact the senator but were told he was unreachable because he had checked out of his hotel.
Source: Chicago Tribune - 12/30/1999,
Ryan comes up short - Philip wins gun duel by 5 votes.

If Obama wasn't in his hotel and if he wasn't on an airplane coming back home, then where was he and why was he out of contact with his staff when the governor NEEDED to contact him? Why couldn't Obama be reached to ANSWER THE PHONE?

Weeks later, when Obama was questioned about his absence for the vote he was quoted as saying:

"I cannot sacrifice the health or well-being of my daughter for politics"
"I had to make a decision based on what I felt was appropriate for my daughter and for my wife..."
Chicago Tribune - 01/17/2000,
"Obama defends decision to miss anti-crime vote"

Since his daughter wasn't alone and wasn't hospitalized, how could traveling back BY HIMSELF for the vote have sacrificed the health or well-being of his daughter? Sally Quinn, when will you find out the real answers?