Renee Rosenow

Throughout this election season, the question of experience has come up quite frequently. Who should we trust to run our country? What qualifies someone to be president of the United States? Furthermore, what qualifies someone to be vice president of the United States? In recent weeks, since John McCain (R-Ari.) announced Gov.Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate, this election suddenly turned into a race between Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Palin rather than a race between McCain and Obama.

Apparently people like Andy Boden, along with the mainstream liberal media, have forgotten that this is a presidential race, not a race for the vice presidency. While the Democratic Party has been prancing around for the last month questioning why McCain picked Palin as his running mate, they somehow forgot to ask themselves whether their own nominee is ready to be president.

Along these lines, why are they comparing Obama’s experience to Palin’s instead of to McCain’s? The answer to that is simple. Because they cannot even begin to compare Obama’s thin resume to McCain’s extensive experience and service to this country, liberals are attempting to belittle Palin’s resume in a desperate attempt to distract voters from the fact that McCain is far more qualified than Obama. Amusing, isn’t it?

Most conservative voters, along with many independent voters, would not say that Obama’s lack of experience is what alarms them most. They are more inclined to be concerned with his extremely liberal agenda. However, since Boden wants to debate the experience of Palin compared to the experience of Obama, so be it.

Palin was a member of the city council of Wasilla, Alaska from 1992 to 1996. From 1996 to 2002 she served as the town’s mayor. During her time as mayor she fought hard to end corruption within her local government which, as Boden noted, resulted in the firing of a corrupt police chief. The chief tried to follow a lawsuit against her in anger but it was dismissed in court.

Despite Boden’s claims that this is similar to when Alberto Gonzalez fired nine U.S. attorneys, it is not. In fact, it is not even similar to when President Clinton fired 93 U.S. attorneys during his presidency. The Obama camp and the media have attacked Palin, suggesting her experience as mayor of a small town is irrelevant.

Just because it is a small town does not mean that the mayor sleeps all day. Wasilla is the fourth largest city in Alaska, meaning it has a lot of infrastructure and businesses. Regardless of the population, Palin gained executive experience during her time as mayor, something Obama lacks.

After serving as mayor, Palin chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. In 2006 she was elected by a landslide as the first female governor of Alaska. Among Alaskans, she is extremely popular. She has an approval rating of over 80 percent which makes her the most popular governor in the United States.

Palin has followed through on her platform of ethics reform, ending government corruption, developing new energy sources and cutting spending. She has done so by bringing Republicans and Democrats together to actually get things done. She has vetoed $286 million in wasteful spending and supported budget cuts of $237 million, which Boden referred to as “bad judgement.” Leave it to a Democrat to suggest that cutting budgets and putting the money back into the hands of the citizens where it belongs is bad judgement.

Boden claimed Palin wants creationism to be taught in schools. This is simply not true. She has never pursued introducing creationism into classrooms. In October of 2006 she stated, “I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”

Palin has brought about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history. She started the project for the Alaskan natural gas pipeline to bolster the Alaskan economy and to lead this country toward energy independence. Palin, along with Alaska’s former Democratic governor Tony Knowles, supports drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. What many environmentalists do not understand is that the drilling area is so tiny it compares to a postage stamp on a football field. ANWR is over 19 million acres. However, the drilling spot is merely a tiny portion of that – only 2,000 acres. The reality is that drilling in ANWR is the next step to reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

Palin oversees the Alaskan National Guard and in 2007 she visited Kuwait and also visited wounded soldiers in Germany. Obama made a trip to the Middle East after pressure to do so by the media and the McCain camp. He also made a speech to 20,000 screaming anti-war Germans but failed to visit the wounded soldiers there. That is the entire extent of Obama’s foreign policy experience. Because of this, Obama nor his liberal supporters should be questioning the foreign policy experience of Palin.

The truth is Palin has more experience and has accomplished more during her two years governing Alaska than Obama has in his entire political career. She has actually run a state and has reformed government instead of just talking about it. The only thing Obama has ever run in his political career is his mouth. During Obama’s four years as a junior senator, two years of which he has spent campaigning, he has done little to reform Washington or reach across party lines. McCain’s choice of Palin proves his dedication to bring reform and change to Washington.

The Democrats are in a state of panic. With the polls as close as they are, they are trying to find a way to stop Palin from continuing as a rising star since Obama is now a falling one. Palin has reunited the Republican Party and has brought a new twist and energy to this election. Women across the country should be inspired by Palin’s accomplishments regardless of whether they share the same political views.

Do not be fooled by Obama’s empty words of change and his ridiculous attacks against Palin. The only change he is going to bring is a far left agenda that will not bring parties together, but push them further apart. Palin and McCain are committed to reforming Washington and sending this country on the right track. The choice will be clear in November. Palin is the right choice for vice president, and McCain is the right choice for America.

Aronhalt is a junior political science major, Secretary of College Republicans and guest columnist for The Spectator.