OK, picking up where I left off Sarah Palin's career in politics began as a city council member and later mayor of the town of Wasilla, Alaska which at the time of the last census was home to less than 5,500 people. I've lived in apartment complexes with higher populations. After a failed bid at lieutenant governor, she was elected the governor of the great state of Alaska. Not that I have anything against Alaska, but I just don't feel that being an administrator there quite prepares you for next in line for the highest office in the land. When compared to the rest of the states Alaska stands out like a two-headed monkey at the petting zoo, it might be fun to look at but it definitely doesn't fit in with the goats and puppies. Alaska has a population density of 1.1 people per square mile. In other words I don't think that problems such as gang violence, urban sprawl, and zoning ordinances are much of an issue. For those of you who at this point might feel it necessary to point out that Alaska is the largest state in the union, you should know that 65% of all that bleak, empty landmass is owned and regulated by the federal government. That means that if Sarah Palin was elected to the vice-presidency, she would actually have more influence over her home state than she did as governor.

Alright, enough about her credentials, or lack thereof. What would Palin's election mean to women and minority voters? I feel that her election would set women in politics back 20 years. Whether you like her or hate her, Hillary Clinton put herself in the position she reached by playing the same game that male politicians play as well or better than anyone else. She fought for and earned everything she achieved. Sarah Palin was plucked from virtual obscurity and placed in the limelight as a statement that McCain and the Republican party are progressive forward thinking entities. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Their use of Sarah Palin as a token to win the votes of disillusioned Clinton supporters and undecided soccer moms was one of the most calculated, disingenuous ruses used upon the American public since Bush turned 9-11 into a whip to scare and control popular opinion and achieve reelection.

In summation, while I think it's great that Sarah Palin knows how to field dress a moose and strip and clean an M-16, that doesn't mean I want her as my commander and chief. I want someone with a clear plan to take control of the economy and who has more foreign policy experience than making her one wish in the question and answer round for world peace. I want the most qualified person for the job, male or female, white or black. We need accountability, not bikini girls with machine guns.