More on Sarah Palin

My Post of Extreme Excitement about Sarah Palin made a thoughtful reader of this blog delurk out of surprise.

Here is part of what she (I think she's a "she") wrote:

It's Palin lack of experience that I object to. I am not comparing her to Obama or Biden. She has 2 years as governor of a wealthy state with around 600,000 people. My feelings about her would be very different if she had completed her term as governor and then went on to serve in the Senate or the House in DC. I think she is a poor choice. While I admire McCain's toughness in living with many physical disabilities and medical conditions, I am seriously concerned about the toll that serving as president takes on all of presidents especially since he is, let's face it, getting old. The before and after photos of our presidents after one and two terms are shocking. It is one tough job. A VP candidate who is experienced in national and foreign affairs would have been as asset, a true partner, and, I believe, eased the burden that any candidate for president must be prepared to bear. Your view of Palin startled me since your reaction is so different from mine.
See this post for the whole comment.

I was going to reply in the comment section, but I decided to make another post of it because, well, she said she would like to hear what I think as Gov. Palin moves into the national scene and she is a fan of Shark-Bites, so clearly, she is AWESOME. (Anonymous - if you're a dude, I'm sorry about all the shes and hers.)

In terms of experience and not comparing Palin to Obama, it's hard for me to look at Palin in isolation like that because, if she's not elected with McCain, we get Obama-Biden. So it seems logical to say, "If I'm not comfortable with her level of experience, what does their experience look like?" It's a serious question and it is one of the things that bothers me about Obama.

McCain clearly had more seasoned choices. However, he's not about throwing this election away (I'd bet some money on that), and he didn't chose Gov. Palin lightly. As I learn about Palin, here's my take-away: She may have been up there in bum-doink Alaska, not exactly a populous state (or even contiguous for that matter - pretty removed from our daily national news), but Alaska has been rife with political corruption. Palin bucked her own party, faced down the "good 'ol boys" up there, and won. She has a record of digging in and fighting for what she believes in. I think she's smart and tenacious and is in this for the right reasons.

When I was 17 in 1984, Geraldine Ferraro was named the vice-presidential candidate on the ticket with Walter Mondale. I made an assumption at that time that the Oval Office was now open to women. I thought women would be in the mix from that point on.

I wasn't old enough to vote in 1984, but if someone had told me then that I would be 41 years old before the opportunity came for me to vote for a woman for president or vice president, I would have been stunned. Absolutely stunned.

I'm not voting for McCain-Palin just because she is a woman. No one with any sense really thinks women will just automatically vote for women; that's a press and spin-doctor-created contention. I am voting for a Republican ticket that better reflects most (not all and not perfectly) my beliefs about the role of the federal goverment in people's lives. And I like that Palin puts a different face, a more humanizing and accessible face, on the GOP. And finally getting to vote for a woman? Yeah, I'll take that.

Edited to add:
As far as the Bristol Palin pregnancy, see White Trash Mom's post. My sentiments exactly. And read this too from Jezebel - things aren't always what they seem, no?

By the way, some of the people quoted in The Wall Street Journal article are infuriating to me! Who will take care of the baby while Sarah works? COME ON. She has a husband. They are his kids too. WTF do you suppose he'll be doing, waiting for her to come home from Capitol Hill and cook dinner? I'm thinking he's capable of handling the children. If it were a man with children, including a special needs child, do you think anyone would be asking what business he has running for VP? God, will it never end? Mommy has to do everything? Still? Good thing it doesn't work that way at my house or we'd be in big trouble.

Video on the issue of why a woman with children is "an issue" and a man with children is not. Go Megan (the interviewer!).