The Ruins of Trenton

Sorry all you GOPers, but the pick of Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin as vice presidential running mate by John McCain seems to at least slightly deflate all of that Republican rhetoric that says Barack Obama is too inexperienced to take over the presidency.

Gov. Palin is a first-term governor whose only previous political experience was as city council member and mayor of the expansive metropolis of Wasilla, Alaska, which has a population 5,470, according to the 2000 U.S. census.

So a relative newcomer with less experience than Sen. Obama will be thrust into a position where a McCain-Palin victory would mean the United States of America is only a stroke, heart attack, or aneurysm away from having President Palin enshrined in the history books as the 45th president of the U.S.

In supporting McCain-Palin Republicans really would be putting a person with so little experience in the office right below Sen. McCain, who, if elected, would be one of the oldest people to be elected President in the history of the country, with a myriad of health problems to boot.

Maybe the whole “a lot of experience is needed” argument doesn’t really carry too much water with the Republican party faithful.

With today's announcement Republican officials from New Jersey are exclaiming that Gov. Palin is sure to appeal to all those millions of women who came out in support of Hillary Clinton, but even that argument has its holes.

Gov. Palin is staunchly pro-life, and all of those former Clinton supporters could have a minor problem with voting for a woman running on a ticket with a man who promises to tilt the Supreme Court even further to the right, in an action that could carry the threat of an effort to overturn Roe V. Wade.

Reading even deeper into the implications of the Palin pick as McCain’s running mate, is considering what it could tell the voters of this great country about the man running against Barack Obama.

This pick almost has an air of desperation, made by a man well known for having a problem with impetuousness and anger. Or even worse, perhaps this out-of-left-field pick of an inexperienced governor of Alaska is indicative of the kind of choices that Sen. McCain could make in national security decisions or economic decisions.

Whatever it means, it doesn’t look like the pick of Gov. Palin tips the presidential election scales in any significant way. In fact, her inexperience and political views may just end up hurting McCain.