Cookie time

Ah Jeremy. Of course you're going to toe the party line; nobody expected anything less than that. But aside from the fact that you picked Palin about a month ago, nothing much goes right for you.

You allege that Palin's "not someone McCain picked off the street." Yes, this is true. However, he did have 270 other elected officials to choose from (the number of Republicans in the House, the Senate, and Governor's mansions combined), to say nothing of the former officials and businesspeople. So if he had picked, say, Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI), who was elected in 2006, it wouldn't be a completely random pick, but it would be questionable, experience-wise.

Also, she has only fought against corruption when she needed to. Back in 2006 Ted Stevens wasn't indicted, and it's easy to say now that she fought against the machine. To be clear, she fought against Governor Frank Murkowski and his 19% approval rating. Here is an ad Palin aired during her 2006 campaign, after she had already disposed of Murkowski in the primary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o46YdvT3lwQ. Yes, she sure is fighting hard against corrupt Ted Stevens.

But the most baffling part of your argument is that "this all proves that even Democrats feel Obama is entirely unqualified to be President." First of all, being mayor of a town of 9000 isn't a spectacular achievement. A 19-year old college student can be elected mayor of a town of 38,000, yet nobody would ever say that he is ready to be president. To get my cookie, I'll say this: being on the City Council of Wasilla, AK is a nice jumping point to higher office, such as mayor, but it in no way helps one prepare to be President, let alone Vice President. And to say that her thin executive experience somehow trumps Barack Obama's semi-thin experience is a joke. Two years ago, she was the ex-mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Two years ago, Barack Obama was still a U.S. Senator.

She and Barack Obama both got elected to semi-legitimate office in 1996 (no, the Wasilla City Council still doesn't count). I think everyone, with the possible exception of you, Jeremy, will agree that being in the Illinois State Senate, representing a district containing much of the South Side of Chicago, is more impressive than being mayor of a town of 9000. In 2002 Palin retired for four years, while Obama served for two more years in the IL Senate. In 2004 Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate, the highest legislative body in the country, while Palin continued to do nothing. Finally, in 2006, she was elected governor of Alaska, and has served in that capacity for one and a half years. And Obama has only missed 23% of votes over the past three and a half years, meaning he has "really" served in the Senate for two and a half years.

So on to the math.... Palin: 6 (years as mayor of Wasilla) + 1.5 (years as governor) = 7.5
Obama: 8 (years in the IL State Senate) + 2.5 ("Ruch" years in the U.S. Senate) = 10.5

And this isn't even including Obama's years as a community organizer and law professor in Chicago. What was Palin doing during those years? She worked as a sports reporter in Anchorage, and then worked in commercial fishing with her husband. As for Paul Begala, I was very interested to read what he had to say about the subject on CNN.com: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/29/begala.palin/index.html.

One doesn't definitively need 20 years in Washington or 8 years as governor to be ready to be president. But what you do need is to be able to convince people that you're able to serve. Obama can intelligently speak at length about all matters ranging from the housing crisis to the War in Iraq. He has led on many important issues in the Senate, and has a unique ability to communicate with voters and understand their problems. He has proven that he is ready to be president. Sarah Palin is nowhere near that. Jeremy, you even admit that she doesn't have foreign policy experience, but does have executive experience. But what good is any amount of executive experience when you haven't done anything with it?

Her approval rating now stands at 64%, she denies that global warming is man-made, she was for the "Bridge to Nowhere" before she was against it, her non-Alaska related political views put her only slightly to the left of Pat Buchanan (a man whose presidential campaign she supported in 1996 and 2000), and she is currently caught up in a hiring and firing corrpution scandal. It doesn't seem like she's made much good use of her one and a half years in office.

There are still many problems with the Palin pick, but to avoid rambling any more, I'll save listing those for another post. But until then, I'll leave you with a few quotes from Alaskans about their governor:

• "She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?" --Alaska GOP Senate leader Lyda Green, who hails from Wasilla
  

• "She has never publicly demonstrated the kind of interest, much less expertise, in federal issues and foreign affairs that should mark a candidate for the second-highest office in the land." --The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

• "If you took a poll of reporters and legislators I expect her approval rating would be down in the teens or twenties." --Anchorage Daily News columnist Gregg Erickson

PS: I would like mine in chocolate chip please.

PPS: Can you also mail a cookie to this person?: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/102718/819/638/580087