SARAH PALIN: SELECTING INEXPERIENCE

I've read and watched a wealth of reactions today from the right-wing "media machine" concerning the selection of Sarah Palin for Vice President. The thing that bothered me over and over is how they try to compare Obama and Palin's experience level to justify the pick. There's just one problem - they simply don't compare.

Since February 10, 2007, when Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States, he has fought the idea that he is somehow "too inexperienced" to assume the highest office in our country. In the months that followed, he spoke to audiences day after day, telling his story, and laying out his plan to improve the lives of the American people.

And when his campaign began to gain some steam and criticisms came from his fellow Democrats, he fought back by convincing his supporters - and a growing group of delegates - that he was right, and they were wrong. He openly debated the best minds the Democrats had to offer, and garnered 18 million votes along his way to securing the nomination for the Democratic Party. The voters chose Barack Obama KNOWING his background, his experience, his judgment, and his plan for the United States.

In short, he was ELECTED by the American People. Meanwhile Sarah Palin was SELECTED by John McCain.

Mind you, this does not reflect badly on Palin. She is the 19-month Governor of 47th most populated State, and would be crazy to turn down an opportunity like this. And I'm sure she's a lovely person, and a capable Governor. However, she's also a person who said this less than a month ago:

"As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration."

By selecting a Vice President, the candidates give us a peek into the judgment they'd show as President. It's a way to say to the American People, "Here is the person I trust most, should something happen to me along the way."

With this in mind and considering the unstable situation we're in overseas, Obama selected Joe Biden, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Meanwhile, John McCain selected a woman he'd met just once (in February) before the vetting for Vice President took place, and then gave her the job on their second "secret" meeting in Arizona?! As an added bonus, here's her views on Iraq as of last year:

"I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq," she said. "I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe."

With this in mind, could it be any clearer who is truly "Not ready to lead"?