Here are some things you should know about Alaska. Alaska ranks 48th in total population, with just over 628,000 people in the 2004 census. The whole state of Alaska has fewer people than some smaller size American cities, such as Memphis, TN, Charlotte, NC or Columbus OH. Governing Alaska, in terms of the population you are governing, is like being the Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida!
Moreover, Alaska’s 600,000 residents are spread out over 656,000+ square miles, an average of less than one person per square mile. You might as well be governor of Mars or the moon. Alaska’s largest and only real major city is Anchorage, with a population of 275,000, which ranks #65 in United States Cities. The next largest cities in Alaska are Fairbanks and Juneau. With populations of about 30,000 each, they would barely qualify as a small town in most parts of the country.
Alaska has one, that’s right one, congressman to represent the entire state. It is 1/435th of the house of representatives.
Alaska has a sizeable budget of 2.4 billion dollars (2004). In fact, its budget is very sizeable considering how few people live there. Alaska ranks #1 in State spending per capita. That’s correct, on a per resident basis, the state of Alaska spends over $14,000 per year. This is nearly three times what the Pennsylvania state budget spends on each of its residents. It makes you wonder about the fiscal responsibility of the state when they spend so much money per resident. I guess it helps when the governor is standing outside the state capital handing out checks for $1200 each.
So what else do we know about the woman who would be a heartbeat away from the presidency, should John McCain, who is 72 years old, become sick or die in office? We know she has zero foreign policy experience, that she was mayor of a town of 9,000 people and that she apparently used or abused her powers as an elected official to get various people fired or removed from their positions. In terms of political experience, she has served just under two years as Governor of Alaska.
On social issues she is a lifetime NRA member, which can only mean she is opposed to the assault weapon ban, the Brady Bill and other gun legislation enacted to try and protect our citizenry from psycho killers, such as the ones we saw at Columbine or Virginia Tech (32 college students shot dead). I bet you can kill a whole herd of moose with one of those assault weapons. The other social issue she has spoken on is abortion, where she decidedly opposes a woman’s right to choose.
Her husband, who also was her high school sweetheart, works for a petroleum company and her position on global warming is that she does not believe it is the result of burning fossil fuels. She favors drilling in the Alaskan wildlife refuge. While she has not been asked, I am sure she is in favor of giving the oil and gas companies leases for millions of acres of public land as well as off-shore waters. Maybe she thinks global warming will be good for Alaska, which spends most of the year buried under snow and ice.
We don’t know much more about this woman, since John McCain chose her seemingly at the last minute, without even previously meeting her.
Since McCain passed over several much more qualified people (in terms of both political and leadership) for his VP selection, I call into question the man’s judgement. Did John McCain pick Palin because she is best qualified in foreign policy and leadership, to be Vice President of a nation of 300 million people? Or did he pick Palin because she is the most conservative, in order to woo the Republican party base ? Did he put a woman on the ticket to spice up its otherwise stodgy appearance, and try to gain in the "soccer mom" vote that elected Bill Clinton?
If McCain thinks that women will vote for his ticket just because there is a female on his ticket, he is sorely mistaken. This is an insult to the intelligence of progressive and modern American women, who will vote based on who is best qualified to govern and whether the candidate represents them on social and economic issues. Moreover, it is doubtful that many of Hilary Clinton’s supporters will defect and vote for John McCain.
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