First, I'm not ever going to be a VP candidate.

Secondly, yes I would look to help my home state BUT I would also be ethically responsible for bettering ALL of the country.

Thirdly, the VP has little power except as a tie breaker in the Senate.

Finally....... I am not, nor have ever been a fan of W's. I despise the man.

Obama spent 8 years as a state senator likely representing more people than Palin did as governer of Alaska.

She is quite interesting.
Advocates teaching creation theory in school.
In school played basketball was president of the "Fellowship of Christian Athletes" nicknamed "Sarah Barracuda"
Former beauty queen who hunts moose.
Named kids Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig Paxson Van Palin.

http://bp2.blogger.com/_uExTzMIDd1Y/...alin-Vogue.jpg

That's the key word... "represent"... like for a postal code or two. State senators do not govern, make executive decisions, manage a budget, nor direct foreign policy.

BTW - The State of Alaska has numerous international trading parters which include state run industries....

I would take Obama's experience over Palin's any day. Then again I would take Obama's over McCain's also. When it comes to experience quality is greater than quantity and both of them are trumped by judgment, something McCain seriously lacks. He has been wrong on almost every major issue in the last 8 years. McCain does not have the judgement nor the temperament to be president.

Also by your argument McCain has no experience either as he has only "represented" people as a senator, he has never governed, made executive decisions, etc.

This sounds promising.

McCain picks Alaska Gov. for VP - USATODAY.com

True, I am not a McCain supporter. I'm just pointing out that Obama has less practical leadership experience than Palin. That seems to be the question here. I would rarely back a senator for president.

she is really quite far to the right.

I hate how so many people put up experience as a deciding factor in political figures. I saw a comic around recently that explained it perfectly.

*EDIT* I found it

http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/200...tomo/story.jpg

Can we shut up about experience?

Palin is an interesting choice. She is fairly well-known among social conservatives, so she helps shore up support from the Republican base. She is also popular with the anti-tax crowd. She is likable, apparently smart, energetic, a good speaker and has a great story. Not being that well know, most will not know about how very conservative she really is and I think the McCain campaign is hoping to downplay how far to the right she really is. Finally, she has a very high approval rating from women, especially in the 35 - 50 age group, the very group that Obama has difficulty with. It appears McCain felt that with they way things are going, a Romney, Pawlenty or Ridge would not get him over the top. He knows that this is going to be a close election and needed to do something different, something that makes his ticket something special. He hopes she brings out the base and pulls some women, fiscal conservatives and independents.

All that being said, I can't say I think she is a great choice.

Seems like an odd choice. I can't see how she could appeal to many of the women who supported Hilary. The differences between the two are night and day.

No way I'm voting for someone who wants to teach creationism as a science. But I was past even considering voting for McCain several flip flops ago.

Executive Experience Scorecard:

Palin - 2 years
McCain - 0
Obama - 0
Biden - 0

Can we drop this argument now?

Fine by me.

This woman looks more interesting the more I read. She rides a Harley and likes to shoot AR-15s. Below she is shooting a 50 cal.

http://bp2.blogger.com/_L2DBb_zR1rs/...400/Sarah+with

http://i33.tinypic.com/wk5sih.jpg

http://www.palmerelks.org/images/wwp-photo2.jpg

And I thought the McCain/Obama debate was going to be interesting.

And her hobbies have what to do with her qualifications to be VP or POTUS how?

What it almost certainly does is take Alaska off the table for Obama.

Alaska has been trending a bit towards Obama, probably because of its two scandal plagued Republican officials - recently indicted Senator Ted Stevens and Congressman Don Young, who is still under investigation.

One of those red states Obama targeted and had a small, but realistic chance to pick-up is now done.

Not sure Alaska was ever that much of an option for Obama. But I'd agree it's off the table now.

I don't know, people vote for all kinds of different reasons. Maybe soon we will see a photo of her and Hillary downing boilermakers in some blue collar tavern.

Alaska has a senate race this year and unfortunately for the Republicans, it is 80+ year old Senator Stevens against the young mayor of Anchorage...and the mayor is running away it since Steven's indictment. The thought was reverse coattails could bring votes to Obama.

Oh well, at the very least, another pick-up for the Democrats in the Senate...one that they didnt expect this time last year.

Also don't forget Palin has very close ties to Stevens and her reputation could be damaged by Steven's sins.

It will be interesting to see her take on Biden in a debate.

Umm, here's what she actually had to say about the bridge before she was a VP candidate:

Did Palin Really Fight The ?Bridge To Nowhere?? - The Plank

She didn't get through her first day without lying. Oh well, if the Republicans act like it's true then it must be.

Not American, but having a MILF in office has some appeal.

I like her as a VP pick, just on the fact that I saw the term "VPILF" today. That alone has been the bright spot of this election cycle.

I know, it's just always struck me odd that people will vote on these issues and forgo actually looking into whether or not they agree with the person's ideals and positions

Well my comment is a little late to this post, but, WHO?

I might have heard her name in passing a few times, but I wasn't even aware she was being vetted.

Don't tell me you're surprised. They'll repeat this often enough and loud enough at least 60% of the voting people will believe it regardless of any facts.
-----Added 29/8/2008 at 07 : 19 : 08-----
Do her? Probably. Vote for her based on her ideas, not happening.

I would say get used to saying President Obama because McCain just blew it. Women across the United States will take this announcement as patronizing in the worse way. It is almost insulting. McCain just revealed how desperate and out of touch he really is. His next job should be firing his strategists since his semblance in this race to the White House is almost non-existent, and when he does get media attention, it never seems to be positive(damned liberal media)

Why would McCain remove "no experience" from his arsenal against Obama? Are his campaign people Democrats?

I really see this as a hail Mary (that's the correct term right?) by McCain. Which I find odd given the way the polls are going. I seriously would have put money on Romney prior to the announcement. Looks like a really tight race to me. Based on the GOP's approval rating and Bush's it seems to me Obama should be 10-15 points up.

I think the Dems should be really wary of being over confident. This race is no where near in the bag, IMHO.

She props McCain up nicely with the Christian Conservative vote.
She brings the look of change and youth to McCain's stodgy look.

If elections are about appearances, McCain just made a great choice.

But lets she how she does on the campaign trail. Things haven't even begun.

As someone who infiltrated the Republican gathering today, I'll tell you about it.

There were quite a few people there. And except for one secret service agent, I had the darkest skin (because I got sunburned 10 days ago).
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/...02088206_o.jpg
Both parties suck at distributing tickets. I was really lucky just to get in, and as you can see I had to stand in the far back corner, but at least I could see. There were more people behind me.

What I found interesting was that McCain had local college cheerleaders and a modern rock bad (they played Finger Eleven - Paralizer...the people around me were in their 60's-80's) But I liked it. :)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/...0d09a7e1_o.jpg

And the first hand experience when they announced Sarah Palin was a lot of excitement. The Republican base (especially Republican women) were happy and crying and quite excited. And compared to him announcing Huckabee, Romney, or Giuliani; she is someone that Republicans can get behind.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/...ca8e9d0c_o.jpg

What I thought when I first saw her was, is that Laura Roslin? I'm such a nerd. For the small group that doesn't know who she is, it's from the newer Battlestar Glactica SciFi channel TV series. Roslin was the sec. of Education before the cylon machines attacked and killed everyone in the government, so she became President and while there were some issues, she did a pretty good job.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...tya_bsg_81.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...tya_bsg_81.jpg
http://www.gateworld.net/galactica/m...aphics/049.jpg
http://www.gateworld.net/galactica/m...aphics/049.jpg

They look alike...which one is which?
http://web.me.com/dnksr/vpilf.com/SA...palin_t575.jpg
http://web.me.com/dnksr/vpilf.com/SA...palin_t575.jpg


And if you haven't seen it yet: VPilf.com They guessed it before I made the OP.

In any election you're going to win 40 and lose 40... it's the 20 inbetween that are going to make or break you. This choice smells of desperation but it's also one that's pretty cagey and certainly adds an element of interest that otherwise would have been spam on a plate had he chosen Romney or Ridge... at least the rest of the election season will now be entertaining!

And I agree that we will all know a lot more about her in the next week or two. Picking her will mean that I can't write off voting Republican (I currently think McCain would be better for me, but Obama would be better for the nation right now). And the VP debates just went from a boring TV show that no one would have watched to a must see prime-time event.

seems to me that the republicans have to keep turnout low to win.
i dont' think they can do it.
polin isn't going to help them, if that's the case.

There were more Republicans at this event than the Obama event in January. True, this was a special occasion, but I wouldn't underestimate the number of Republicans in Ohio that always vote, and will now be voting for sure. Unless some mistake happens.

I saw quite a few "dark peoples" in your pictures ASU.

She does remind me of Laura Roslin. When I first saw her i did a double take. That and also she came from nowhere, a virtual unknown. Also (stretching here) I get the feeling they share similar politics (remember the whole ban abortion thing)?

Anyways, Laura Roslin did a great job so who knows, maybe Sara Palin will turn out good too.

I was just saying that there may have been less than 100 there out of 15,000. At the Obama rally there was between 3,000-4,000 out of 11,000.

(Obama Rally)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3287/...7cd038ce_o.jpg