Palin Comparison To Obama

Hi everyone,

"I've seen this so many times I've lost count: TV Person #1 raises the valid question that by all measure, Sarah Palin is not perceived seriously to be ready to lead, to which TV Person #2 responds obediently, however unconvincingly, towing the Party line: "She has more (executive) experience than Barack Obama," not answering the question at all, instead just dodging it by projection & eating up as much air-time as possible, extolling the superiority of Sarah Palin over Barack Obama while noticeably straining to smile through it all.

I've had enough. Going by that same logic, Sarah Palin has more experience than anyone on the ticket... Do you believe it? For those who insist on insisting, here's a side-by-side comparison, which I hope you'll find useful. Everything here is objective & easily verifiable somewhere else online, although I gotta admit, most of it was lifted straight from Wikipedia..." See also links and the bottom for bibliography (sources list). Thank you, SantaFeMarie!!!

1980 - 1984 Obama: B.A. in political science with a specialization in international relations from Columbia University. Palin: Wasilla High School, captain of the state-champion basketball team. Miss Wasilla, runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant, also Miss Congeniality, although that is now disputed. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/debpeterson/story /23D7A0CF8A2E3A61862574B50011DB30?OpenDocument Him: Ivy League degree in Political Science. Her: tiara.

1985 - 1990 Obama: moved to Chicago; became a community organizer as Director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization on Chicago's far South Side. During his three years as the DCP's Director, its staff grew from 1 to 13 and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization. Moved to Boston to attend Harvard Law

School. Selected as an editor and then elected President of the Harvard Law Review, a full-time volunteer position functioning as editor-in-chief and supervising the law review's staff of 80 editors. Palin: Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, with a (edits by a first-time-user account to Palin's Wikipedia page began 45 minutes before her candidacy was announced, totaling 5 hours, in clear violation of Wikipedia's "Terms of Service" regarding conflict of interest) minor in political science (this particular page edit was added to Wikipedia not the same day her VP candidacy was announced, but one day AFTER) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94118849 from the University of Idaho. Brief stint as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations; left to join her husband in commercial fishing. Him: Director of the Developing Communities Project, President of the Harvard Law Review. Her: part-time sportscaster. see video at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/30/sarah-palin-from-tvsport_n_122676.html

1991 - 1995 Obama: graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School; received contract and advance to write a book ("Dreams from my Father") as well as a fellowship at the University of Chicago Law School. Directed the Illinois Project Vote from April to October 1992, a voter registration drive with a staff of 10 and 700 volunteers that achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be. Appointed as a Lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago. Joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 12attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development. Active in several community organizations, usually as a board member. Palin: member of the Alasaka Independence Party (secessionist organization) which advocates "Alaska First; Alaska Always". As a result, in 1992 & 1996 elected to Wasilla city council. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/members-of-frin.html http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94200853 Him: Critcally acclaimed author and businessman, eminent expert on our nation's fundamental legal principles. Her: Plotted to leave the Union; thinks Pledge of Allegiance was written by our Founding Fathers (original link http://eagleforumalaska.blogspot.com/2006/07/2006-gubernatorialcandidate.html was REMOVED yesterday; see http://web.archive.org/web/20070501192322/http://eagleforumalaska.bl

ogspot.com/2006/07/2006-gubernatorial-candidate.html instead), doesn't know what a Vice President does. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12969.html, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oro2Yh9HoEM, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/29/sarah-palin-whatexactly_n_122514.html Note to Palin: The Founding Fathers didn't recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It was written in 1892, and didn't include the phrase "Under God" until 1954. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014510 .php

1996 - 2000 Obama: promoted to Senior Lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. Elected to the Illinois Senate. Sponsored more than 800 bills. http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/29/us/politics/20070730_ OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html In 2000, lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one. Palin: elected as mayor of Wasilla (population 5,470), defeating the incumbent by a total of 616 votes to 413. Town budget, $8 million (3 millionths of the Federal budget), approximately 100 employees. Reduced property taxes but increased sales taxes. Fired the Wasilla police chief, citing a failure to support her administration. (He then sued Palin on the grounds that he was fired because he supported the campaign of Palin's opponent, but his suit was dismissed when the judge ruled that Palin had the right under state law to fire city employees, even for political reasons.) Hired a DC lobbyist to bring $27 million in earmarks http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090103148.html?hpid=topnews to the city. Wasilla had zero debt when she entered office but she left it with indebtedness of over $22 million, including $15 million-plus for construction of a hockey center which was built on a piece of property that the city didn't even have clear title to, a matter that is still in litigation. Attempted to ban books from the city library. http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1837918,00.html Him: Sponsored 800 bills. Her: Swayed 616 voters. http://www.cityofwasilla.com/index.aspx?page=136

2001 - 2004 Obama: Re-elected in 2002 and became Chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee. Publicly spoke out against the invasion of Iraq BEFORE the Congressional authorization in 2002, and then again before the actual invasion in 2003. Wrote and delivered the Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. November 2004: elected to the US Senate, receiving over 3.5 million votes, more than 70% of total. Palin: elected President of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. Unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor, coming in second in a five-way race in the Republican primary, receiving 19,000 votes. Appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, served as chairman from 2003 to 2004 and also served as Ethics Supervisor. Resigned in protest over the "lack of ethics" of fellow Republican members. Exposed the state Republican Party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, for doing party work on public time and working closely with a company he was supposed to be regulating. Director of Ted Stevens' (recently indicted on corruption charges) 527 (lobbyist) group. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thetrail/2008/09/01/palin_was_a_director_of_embatt.html Him: Demonstrated the wisdom to oppose the Iraq folly before it even began. Her: hasn't really thought much about Iraq http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/08/29/palin_iraq/index.ht ml - despite the fact that 17 Alaskans have died there http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/states/ak/

2005 to present Obama: Worked with Republican Senator Lugar to author and implement a program to locate and dismantle stray Russian WMD's. Designated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as the party's point man on ethics. Worked with Russ Feingold to pass a major ethics/lobbying reform bill. Cosponsored, with John McCain, the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. Called for increased fuel efficiency standards (3 percent every year for 15 years). Assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Veterans' Affairs, and Homeland Security. Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. Waged a tremendous battle to become the Democratic presidential nominee. Currently manages 2,500 campaign employees and a budget of $40-$50 million/month. Palin: 2005: board member, Valley Hospital Association, which runs the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla.

Became youngest and first female Governor of Alaska, taking office in December, 2006. Received 114,600 votes. The population of Alaska is 683,478 and more than 50% of the state budget comes from oil revenues, not taxes as in other states. Gross State Product: $44 billion (including the oil revenue). Ranking 45 of 50. Auctioned off the Governor's jet on eBay. Took on fellow-Republican Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the federal investigation into his financial dealings. Promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska. Helped pass a tax increase on oil companies' obscene profits. Formed a subcabinet group of advisers to address climate change but does not accept that it is man-made. Objected to listing polar bears as an endangered species because it might hurt oil and gas development in the bears' habitat. Was for the "Bridge to Nowhere" before she was against it. http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/511471.html However, Alaska kept the federal money. Denied her daughter, the recipient of "abstinenceonly" sex-education, was pregnant before she confirmed it. http://community.adn.com/node/130178#comment-367717 Currently under a bipartisan investigation for abuse of power for dismissing Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner. Commander-in-Chief of the Alaska National Guard, but has played no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard.(The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/31/alaska-national-guardgen_n_122860.html Obtained her first passport in 2007 http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/31/cindy-palin-russia/ to perform visits to the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait and Germany. (Foreign experience so limited that a stopover in Ireland listed on her resume.) Note: It is worth observing that numerous Republican message hammers/talkingheads have lied on national television by telling the country that Palin visited the troops in Iraq. Him: Impressive figure on the international stage, intimate knowledge of how United States government works and is already highly influential in foreign policy issues. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/opinion/27rich.html?_r=1&partner =rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin Her: Small state (total population less than Memphis, TN) http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/02000.html http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763098.html Governor for 21 months, currently battling three discrete scandals and under investigation for abuse of the powers of her office.

Conclusion: the word "executive" is not some kind of magic multiplier when placed in front of the word "experience".

BIBLIOGRAPHY: ROOT SOURCES (of course there are linked articles and videos) INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: Wikipedia, St. Louis PostDispatch, Anchorage Daily News, ABC News, National Public Radio (NPR), Huffington Post, New York Times, Washington Post, City of Wasilla official site, Senate.gov, Salon.com, Washington Monthly, Fox News (for inspiration!), etc. In the interest of objectivity/credibility, I made a conscious effort to try and stay away from blog pages. You'll see a few included, but all sources are verifiable because of outside links to more info from more credible sources.

Q: I don't believe you. You are biased. You are lying. A: See for yourself (copy/paste, add your search terms separated by the plus sign): http://www.google.com/search?q=search+terms+like+so Example: http://www.google.com/search?q=McCain+cancels+CNN

Let me also say that to me, it matters that Obama is widely traveled, has met and is liked by numerous world leaders (since when is it a minus for other people to, you know, not HATE us???), and has lived and worked in various regions of this great country (East-coast, West-coast, Midwest). It seems to me suspicious that a person who has essentially lived all her life in the area of her birth would suddenly think she can aspire to national and even world politics. I am a working class, white American straight male, and I am voting for Barack Obama. I know plenty of his politics and plenty of WHO he is. I am also aware there is plenty of pigment in his skin, but let me be clear; that is not a factor in my decision. No slander attempts against him have any real teeth. I have seen John McCain's campaign resemble a vampire in so many ways just these past two months, since the cheese-aisle incident, since he hired George Bush’s same campaign team who dragged him through the mud in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. Vampire because it's so obvious (McCain's been in the Senate for 22

years! Why is he gonna change it next year?)that they have NEVER been agents of change in America, ONLY trying to brand himself as a change agent recently because the People demanded it and he doesn't stand a chance without also embracing it. They picked up on the message of change ONLY after it was apparent that Obama was going to win on that platform, and are now attempting to "out-market" Obama with gimmicks of being the real agents of change... I say vampire (although I could as easily have said "body snatcher") because it's only about victory with McCain. It's ONLY about victory. McCain NEVER said anything about being a change agent all the way through the primary season; only recently; only well after the primaries were finished. McCain has been copy-catting Obama's campaign every step of the way since BEFORE the cheese-aisle incident, first notably with the "green-screen" speech in which he briefly (for about three days) changed his logo green instead of blue and changed his slogan to "A Leader We Can Believe In," ripping off BLIND Obama's trademark "Change You Can Believe In." Vampire because they've glommed onto everything about Obama's campaign that is working. EVERYTHING... including picking a female VP running mate in order to try to steal the female vote, a woman who is so obviously power hungry and herself not above using a little palm-greasing and cronyismof-convenience (she never even would have made Mayor if she didn't support a group that wants Alaska to be their own country - google "Palin" "AIP") in order to "win." Vampire because, as with Bush, it's all about "perception management." Vampire because at any moment, they could be exposed to the light of day. They won't grant any interviews with Palin because she's so unknowledgeable, it's of vital importance she doesn't open her mouth away from the scripted podium. Vampire because perception, improperly "managed" will lead to their sound defeat and they know it. NOTHING is as it seems with Republicans in general and McCain's campaign in particular. Vampire because a hallmark of the Republican strategy is to "project" one's own shortcomings onto the other, as in "Some politicians use change to advance their careers, and some politicians use their careers to advance change!" No one with 30 minutes of good solid research could believe that statement about McCain, but another 30 minutes make a pretty good case in favor of Barack Obama. I am voting for Barack Obama because he earned my vote. He earned my vote by championing family values (one marriage, no baggage) instead of just paying lip service to the concept. Barack has earned my vote with his voting record, available for anyone to see and contrast over at senate.gov (http://obama.senate.gov/votes/, http://ask.metafilter.com/99889/McCain-vs-Obama-website, http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=41175 0). By stark contrast, see McCain’s anti-troop, anti-child, anti-workingclass voting record at the same site, although you’d fair better with google (see http://www.google.com/search?q=%22McCain%22+voting+record+senat

e.gov%2F). Barack has earned my vote with his integrity, never stooping to smear tactics as a viable first strategy. You see, Barack Obama shouldn't need to do that. Obama doesn't need to try to trick you into voting for him. He earned my vote with his PROVEN record as an agent of reform and change. Obama has earned my vote. It's like McCain has taken everything good about Obama, all of his great strengths, and (1) ignored them early on with smears (because those kind of "first impressions" are the kind of stuff that lasts & gives water cooler "talking points," see "perception management" above), then (2) mocked them jealously, and finally (3) looked for ways to try to market himself as being that way "too." Here is a guy (Barack) who has dedicated his entire life to serving others. See McCain's acceptance speech last night? McCain is again, like a vampire, trying to paint himself as someone who has done the same, and just like everything else they have glommed onto, it is for MARKETING PURPOSES. I am voting for Barack Obama, but it is not on the color of his skin; it is on the content of his character. Keep it real, huh guy? For those in doubt as to Obama's "experience" and "readiness," it's important to note that when John McCain began his campaign, Sarah Palin was not yet a Governor. It's important to note that Barack Obama has been running for President roughly as long as Palin has been a Governor with "responsibilities." It's important to note that Barack Obama has executive control over his own campaign, with some 2500 employees and a MONTHLY budget at least three times (on average) as large as Palin's entire YEARLY budget as Governor. (Yeah, maybe you could put some perspective on that by doing a google on these here inter-tubes for Palin's budget before/after while mayor of a town of only 7025, see http://www.cityofwasilla.com/index.aspx?page=49 for proof of how tiny it is.) And for anyone who insists on insisting otherwise, check this out: Senator Barack H. Obama, J.D. --2 time Best Selling Author --Constitutional Scholar, 12-year Professor of Constitutional Law UNITED STATES SENATOR from Illinois --Member, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations --Chairman, Subcommittee on European Affairs --Member, Subcommittee on African Affairs --Member, Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs --Member, Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, --Economic Affairs and International Environmental Protection --Member, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions --Member, Subcommittee on Children and Families --Member, Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety --Member, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

--Member, Subcommittee on Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration --Member, Subcommittee on Investigations --Member, Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security --Member, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs Elected in 2004, Barack Obama has sponsored 136 bills since Jan 4, 2005. Obama has co-sponsored 653 bills during the same time period. Selected recent Obama sponsored bills: Passed Senate Jun 26, 2007 S.Con.Res. 25: A concurrent resolution condemning the recent violent actions of the Government of Zimbabwe against peaceful opposition party activists and members of civil society. Scheduled for Debate Apr 24, 2008 S. 2433: Global Poverty Act of 2007 Introduced Jun 3, 2008 S. 3077: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008 Introduced Oct 4, 2007 S. 2147: Security Contractor Accountability Act of 2007 Introduced Jul 26, 2007 S. 1885: Military Family Job Protection Act Obama's eight years representing 650,000 people of District 13 Highlights of ILLINOIS STATE LEGISLATURE 1997-2004 SHORT SELECTION OF THE Bills Obama Successfully Sponsored: 2004. Health Care Justice Act, a study of ways to implement a universal health care system statewide. 2003. Requirement that law enforcement videotape interrogations of suspects for serious crimes. 2003. Successfully sponsored law enforcement study of the race of people pulled over for traffic tickets. 2003. Co-sponsored a prescription drug discount buying club program for seniors and the disabled.

1998. Successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform called the Gift Ban Act. Selected (based on contrast to McCain and/or distortions of voting record) excerpts of State Senate: Voting record: --Voted to raise the minimum wage in Illinois. --Helped pass a 5 percent earned-income tax credit for low-income working families in 2000; --Voted for having Illinois endorse embryonic stem cell research. (2004) --Voted to let retired police and military police carry concealed weapons. (2004)

I am pro-gun, pro-home-schooling, anti-big-gov't. Barack Obama will not raise our taxes, and he will not try to take our guns away. That is laughable... We are Americans, dammit! Like we could EVER be disarmed! One more thing: I want a president who is WAAAAAYYY smarter than I am. In Barack Obama, we have one. John McCain..? Not so much. B-b-b-but, but he's a Muslim! It's not true, and you know it. But don't let it end there. Let it end here: So what if he were? I am an American, and I AM NOT AFRAID! Don't get tricked into voting against your own interest! You vote Republican because of the undercurrent of racism so prevalent in the Party, and because you want to identify with money... Who doesn't??? But they are chumping you. You stand to actually gain under Barack Obama! Don't take the bait (again!)! McCain? I like him. I respect him. But he hasn't earned my vote. Palin? Come on..! Ladies, look here: http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/the-mirroredceiling/index.html