Friday, August 29, 2008

mccain chooses alaska gov. sarah palin for vp

The day after Barack Obama delivered one of the best speeches in recent political history, John McCain named his choice for the VP slot on his Republican ticket: Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.

Is this a slick move for the McCain campaign, who we can tell from recent ads are clamoring after disaffected Hillary voters? Or is it an insult to intelligent women everywhere, that McCain picked a woman running mate for the purposes of political pandering? Will it backfire?

Either way, it's a history-making choice: Palin is the first female to ever be on a Republican presidential ticket. She's also the first ever Alaskan to be nominated. We'll have to see what happens, but in the meantime, here's what we do know about Sarah Palin's thin record:
  • Palin is 44 and a first-term governor of Alaska
  • She is an advocate for drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
  • She holds an degree in journalism from the University of Idaho
  • Before serving as governor, Palin served on the city council and as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska
  • She is a former beauty queen
  • She has objected to listing polar bears as endangered species
  • Palin is pro-life and supports teaching creationism in public schools
  • She is opposed to same-sex marriage, though she did use her gubernatorial veto to block anti-gay legislation
Palin will debate Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, in St. Louis on October 2.

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