At last night's Convention...

[iamahaingttta]

Here's an email that I wrote to some friends, on both sides of the aisle. Feedback and suggestions are more than welcome.



At last night's Convention...

(please feel free to read, disregard or forward at your pleasure)

Last night at the Republican National Convention, the world was introduced to Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, who John McCain chose to be his vice-presidential running mate. Gov. Palin is an energetic speaker, and her audience certainly seemed to enjoy what she had to say.

After a long campaign, one in which Sen. McCain constantly made an issue of the notion that Sen. Obama was "not qualified" for the job, someone else with questionable qualifications was chosen to be "a heartbeat from the presidency." Gov. Palin chose to use her speech to attack Sen. Obama's qualifications, rather than Sen. Biden's (who she is ostensibly running against).

Since she chose to open this can of worms, I would like to take a moment to compare the experience and qualifications of the good governor of Alaska as they compare to the senator from Illinois. There's a meme floating around that she has "executive experience" whereas Sen. Obama has none. Personally, I don't think ANYBODY is "qualified" to be president, they all have to figure it out once they get into office.

We'll begin after they each graduated from high school. All of this information is available (and largely quoted from) Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_obama


"In 1984, Palin won the Miss Wasilla Pageant, then finished second in the Miss Alaska pageant, at which she won a college scholarship and the "Miss Congeniality" award." She "attended Hawaii Pacific in Honolulu for a semester in 1982, majoring in Business Administration. She transferred in 1983 to North Idaho College. In 1987, Palin received a Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho, where she also minored in political science."

Miss Wasilla, second place in Miss Alaska, and a Bachelor's degree from U of I.

Sen. Obama "studied at Occidental College (in Los Angeles) for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations. Obama graduated with a B.A. from Columbia in 1983, then worked for a year at the Business International Corporation and then at the New York Public Interest Research Group."

"After four years in New York City, Obama moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer for three years from June 1985 to May 1988 as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland on Chicago's far South Side. During his three years as the DCP's director, its staff grew from 1 to 13 and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens. Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute."

"Obama entered Harvard Law School in late 1988 and at the end of his first year was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review based on his grades and a writing competition. In his second year he was elected president of the Law Review, a full-time volunteer position functioning as editor-in-chief and supervising the law review's staff of 80 editors. Obama's election in February 1990 as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review was widely reported and followed by several long, detailed profiles. He graduated with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991 and returned to Chicago where he had worked as a summer associate at the law firms of Sidley & Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990."

B.A. from Columbia, "community organizer," J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard, president of the Harvard Law Review, summer associate at two law firms.

OK... those are the college years.

Next, "in 1988, (Palin) worked as a sports reporter for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. She also helped in her husband's family commercial fishing business." There was also a car wash that the family owned, which apparently failed. Wikipedia also does not seem to mention her activity in the local PTA.

Local Sportscaster, small business owner, PTA member.

Next for Obama - "the publicity from his election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review led to a contract and advance to write a book about race relations. In an effort to recruit him to their faculty, the University of Chicago Law School provided Obama with a fellowship and an office to work on his book."

Also, "Obama directed Illinois Project Vote from April to October 1992, a voter registration drive with a staff of 10 and 700 volunteers that achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be. Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, as a Lecturer for four years (1992–1996), and as a Senior Lecturer for eight years (1996–2004)."

Director of a voter registration drive and constitutional law lecturer.

And now for their political careers.

"Palin began her political career in 1992, when she ran for a three-year term on the Wasilla city council... and won re-election to a second three-year term in the 1995 election." Next, "in 1996, Palin challenged and defeated incumbent John Stein for the office of mayor... Palin ran for re-election against Stein in 1999 and was returned to office by a margin of 909 to 292 votes. Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors." Then, "in 2002, term limits prevented Palin from running for a third term as mayor... In 2002, Palin made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor."

City Council member and Mayor of Wasilla, unsuccessful bid for Lt. Governor.

At about the same time, "Obama was a founding member of the board of directors of Public Allies in 1992, resigning before his wife, Michelle, became the founding executive director of Public Allies Chicago in early 1993. He served on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund Obama's DCP, from 1993–2002, and served on the board of directors of The Joyce Foundation from 1994–2002. Obama served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995–2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995–1999. He also served on the board of directors of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and the Lugenia Burns Hope Center." Also, "Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate... from the 13th District," and "was reelected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, and again in 2002." In 2000, "he lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one."

Several board memberships, elected 3 times to the Illinois State Legislature, unsuccessful congressional run.

Next... in 2006, "Palin became Alaska's first female governor and, at 42, the youngest in Alaskan history."

While... "In July 2004, Obama wrote and delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts... In the November 2004 senatorial election, Obama received 70% of the vote to Keyes's 27%, the largest victory margin for a statewide race in Illinois history."

None of this says anything at all about what they did in those offices. You can check Wikipedia for the details.

Currently... "On August 29, 2008, Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain announced that he had chosen Palin as his running mate. She was nominated at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Palin is the second woman to run for vice president on a major-party ticket and the first Republican woman to do so."

She's been running for vice-president for six days now.

"On February 10, 2007 Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States... Obama's campaign raised $58 million during the first half of 2007, of which "small" donations of less than $200 accounted for $16.4 million. The $58 million set the record for fundraising by a presidential campaign in the first six months of the calendar year before the election... Among the January 2008 DNC-sanctioned state contests, Obama tied with Clinton for delegates in the New Hampshire primary and won more delegates than Clinton in the Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina elections and caucuses. On Super Tuesday, he emerged with 20 more delegates than Clinton. He again broke fundraising records in the first two months of 2008, raising over $90 million for his primary to Clinton's $45 million. After Super Tuesday, Obama won the eleven remaining February primaries and caucuses. Obama and Clinton split delegates and states nearly equally in the March 4 contests of Vermont, Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island; Obama closed the month with victories in Wyoming and Mississippi... During April, May, and June, Obama won the North Carolina, Oregon, and Montana primaries and remained ahead in the count of pledged delegates, while Clinton won the Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, and South Dakota primaries. During the period, Obama received endorsements from more superdelegates than did Clinton... On June 3, with all states counted, Obama passed the threshold to become the presumptive nominee. On that day, he gave a victory speech in St. Paul, Minnesota. Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed him on June 7..."

"On August 23, 2008, Obama selected Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate.<101> At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Obama's former rival Hillary Clinton gave a speech in strong support of Obama's candidacy and later was the person that called for Obama to be nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate by acclamation..."

In other words, he's been running for president for 19 months, and beat out the most formidable democratic political machine in a generation, set fundraising records, largely among small donors, selected a well-known and respected running mate, and got the enthusiastic endorsement of the political machine that he bested.

Again, none of this speaks to their records in the jobs that they've had. You'll have to decide for yourself if their experience and agendas make you comfortable or not. Gov. Palin chose to compare their qualifications, so I think it's fair to do so as well. I'll take Sen. Obama's qualifications and experience over hers any day of the week.

Your mileage may vary...