Sarah Palin

Sen. McCain has made a brilliant choice with his selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

I was first exposed to Gov. Palin this summer while researching energy policy for my internship. She had made waves by declaring her support for opening parts of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration. There had been some buzz about her being a possible choice for McCain, but she was a long shot at best.

Gov. Palin helps McCain in several ways. First, she brings solid conservative credentials to the ticket, a problem that had been plaguing McCain since the primaries. With her selection, McCain will likely shore up the conservative base of the party - a group that has been on the fence about a McCain candidacy since the primaries. Second, she has a reputation in Alaska as an aggressive reformer. As has been made public with the recent indictment of Sen. Ted "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens, Alaskan politics have long been plagued by corruption. During her candidacy for governor, Palin ran on a platform of cleaning up the state government in Juno. She delivered on that promise from day one of her administration and made enemies of the status quo by aggressively going after corruption, earmarks, and kickbacks. Third, her life story is a major plus with "average" Americans. Prior to entering public service, she worked briefly as a sports reporter for a local TV station, but spent most of her life working alongside her husband in the commercial fishing business. Thus, middle and working class Americans can easily identify with her.

Not surprisingly, the Obama campaign has already started their attacks on Governor Palin. The Obama camp, in a press release issued this morning, said that Palin has "zero" experience. Not only is this a laughable attack, it's completely dishonest. Consider the following comparison of the records of Gov. Palin and Sen. Obama:

- Gov. Palin entered public service in 1992 by being elected to the Wasilla City Council. In 1996 she was elected mayor of the town, a position she held until 2002. She was elected governor of Alaska in 2006 and has served in that capacity since.

- Sen. Obama was elected to the Illinois legislature in 1997 and to the United States Senate in 2005. He has less than 200 days of actual on-the-job experience in the federal government. During that time, the vast majority of his votes were either "Present" or "Not Voting."

So, what does this mean? Gov. Palin as over a decade of experience in elected office, and about 8 years of experience in executive office. Sen. Obama has barely over a decade in any elected office and zero executive experience. When Sen. Obama was first elected to office in 1997, Gov. Palin already had five years worth of experience as an elected official.

Gov. Sarah Palin is a brilliant choice and will make a great Vice President.