Politics Nerd Time: Sarah Palin

Nerd time! A Sarah Palin bio packet for interested parties as surprised as I was by the selection:

1. She has threatened that Alaska will sue over the addition of polar bears to the endangered species list.

2. She has come out in support of the teaching of creationism in schools: ('The Republican Party of Alaska platform says, in its section on education: "We support giving Creation Science equal representation with other theories of the origin of life. If evolution is taught, it should be presented as only a theory."' Commence wailing, gnashing of teeth.)

3. Palin supports drilling in ANWR. Also, this cached Google page demonstrates that she issued a press release supporting Obama's energy plan before being nominated for VP, so it will be interesting to see how they get around that one.

4. She is staunchly pro-life, and has put her money where her mouth is by electing to keep and raise her fifth child, born with Down's syndrome (just for interest, her kids' names are kind of hilarious: Track, Bristol, Piper, Willow, and Trig).

5. Like McCain, she has a son serving in Iraq.

6. She resigned from Alaska's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission due to a "lack of ethics" on the part of Republican members; she also exposed the party's state chair for corruption.

7. She has only been governor for two years; all of the criticisms about "lack of experience" that have been directed at Obama also apply to Palin. The Detroit Free Press has a stunningly snarky editorial on that matter.

According to a senior Clinton advisor, the idea is that Palin will energize independent and Republican women who weren't enthused about McCain and would have stayed home from the polls. All in all, I think she's an interesting choice. She has solid conservative credentials, and certainly seems to have the upstanding character that matters in American politics (note: she speaks openly about having done marijuana in her youth. I think that's becoming a non-issue now that the baby boomers are holding public office, because everybody and their roommate has done ganja). Even her one scandal is sort of badass, honestly: she tried to fire a state official who refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law from his state trooper job, ostensibly as revenge for having left her sister. Hell hath no fury! She also doesn't have the same plutocracy problem as McCain - I'd bet this lady knows how many houses she owns.

However, she's even more inexperienced than "new kid" Obama. At three years younger than Obama, Palin's youth will make McCain look even older in comparison. He's more than old enough to be her father. It's also a blatant pander. If McCain thinks moderate and liberal women are going to overlook the threat this ticket poses to their rights, I certainly hope he's mistaken. In any case, it makes the race more interesting - this election could get fun again!