I like Palin, and I agree with most of her points. But let's not forget that Obama isn't running against Palin.

Okay I've been reading the editorials on this page for a few days now. At least 2/3 of the letters are about Sarah Palin. People, she's running for VICE president! Is it a Utah thing to need to have politicians to idolize? First it was Mitt, and now it seems to be Palin. If you vote this ticket into office, JOHN MCCAIN will be in charge, not Palin. She's not going to shake up Washington, because she won't have the pwer. McCain will, and he's going to keep the status quo. People: vote based on ideas, intelligence, etc, and NOT on personality. We are voting for our chief executive, NOT American Idol!!

Obama took three years of his life to serve the poor and needy as a community organizer. He could've been making big money, or he could have gone straight to law school, but he dedicated himself to what he felt was a greater need.
Palin makes fun of this fact.
So I would hardly say that she outshines Obama.

Palin's political capacity is irrelevant. Her role on the ticket is to secure votes from the Christian right, who otherwise may not vote, and the hockey moms who could vote both ways.

Unfortunately Governor Palin is running as VP - not for President. We have to vote for the global warming believin', illegal immigrant lovin' McCain. The writer is correct though. Palin has way more executive experience than Obama. It's frightening that the Democrats could nominate a candidate that is so obviously not ready for the highest office.
Way to go Democrats. Get ready to lose again in November.

I was really turned off on Palin's criticism of community organizers and volunteerism in her convention speech. Yes, while being mayor gives you executive power, being a community organizer and serving your community via volunteerism is the backbone of this nation. Imagine if no one volunteered for the Winter Olympics here in Utah in 2002. Yes, businesses locally made lots of money, but they wouldn't have if all the locals didn't come out for the sheer love of their state to welcome the world -- and all for FREE! Community organizers are typically volunteer/very low pay-type jobs that require savvy skills to do remarkable things (build local stakeholder support, work with local political leaders and beg for local business support for programs) to help people that our government has ignored or won't provide for, and we should be honoring these folks as true heros. If the LDS Church honors volunteers and community organizers, why can't Palin? Oh... just because a Democratic presidential candidate was a community organizer, it is now a bad thing? What if Obama had been a volunteer Boy Scout leader, would we be demonizing that organization as well now?

Obama, hands down.

Impressive: - U. of Idaho undergrad (ranked #174)v Harvard Law (ranked #2) w/ distinctions. AD: OBAMA!
- Second female VP by major party v first african american Pres pick. AD: OBAMA!!
- can skin animals (very applicable to VP) v president of law review (first african american to do that too) AD: OBAMA!!!
- earned the nickname of a fish v earned the respect of billions worldwide for ability to UNITE, not divide AD: OBAMA!!!

Noble: - yes to 'bridge to nowhere', after bad press, says no and dishonestly keeps the money v 'petty' community organizer after turning down six figure salaries at high powered firms.
AD: OBAMA! (unless you're a non-christianed valued bastard who thinks community organizations are for losers and value money over morals)
- pregnant 17 yr old daughter and allows her the 'choice' to keep baby but plans to eradicate said 'choice' for others in similar situations v two daughters raised on moral principles of understanding and tolerance for others AD: OBAMA!!

Deserving: - spent an entire week in the spotlight (firing barbs and complaining most of the time) v years of presenting solutions and ideas for a better US. AD:OBAMA!!!

GET REAL

Sad. Now take your blinders off and really look at Palin. She's flat not qualified for the job she holds now, and really not qualified to be Vice President.

If you want to support Palin for president go ahead, fine. But lay off the Republican (Rush Limbaugh) talking points by saying Obama hasn't accomplished a singe piece of leglistation in the Senate. That's an outright lie, and at least be honest when you purport to give his record.

Looks like, according to the letter writer, history should repeat itself. Bush "out-shined" his opponent, and Americans voted for "shine" instead of substance. Look what we have had for the last 8 years.

So is Palin then running for President?

Hahaha, Bush was governor too and look at where that has gotten us!

Palin, a representative of the people? Wasn't she trying to push that expensive bridge that was going to nowhere? Look it up in Wikipedia....

The project encountered fierce opposition outside of Alaska as a symbol of pork barrel spending and is labeled as one of the more prominent "bridges to nowhere".

The project was canceled in 2007 by bridge supporter Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who changed her view after Congress forced the funds to be used elsewhere.

Nice Flip Flop!

Another 4 years of Rep. Leadership only means another 4 years of pork barrel spending.

Here's what this letter comes down to: I'm a Republican.

My response: I'm a Democrat. I don't admire Sarah Palin any more than you admire Obama.

Now, have we gained anything by the exchange?

"Palin far outshines Obama"

Has the writer not listened to what a clear, extemperaneous thinker/speaker Obama is? The guy is extremely intelligent. Maybe Palin is as well... but how would we know? She hasn't been on the scene long enough nor been tested outside of Alaska.

If our country no longer considers a sharp mind as a prerequisite for President of the United States then we are doomed. Has the last 8 years taught us nothing?

It's funny how the writer doesn't mention McCain - he's been sacraficed at our alter of cultural superficiality.

I always did like Idahoens!

Obama is an inspiring figure. Palin is a demagogue--the only thing consistent about her is her inability to tell the truth. That speech was one lie after another. She took the bridge money. The gas companies built the pipeline themselves because they couldn't wait for her floundering administration to make up its mind. She wants to ban books, teach creationism, and ban ALL abortions without exception. Limbaugh does her thinking for her. Please recognize this woman for what she is.

Palin is governor of how many? Something like two thirds of Salt Lake County for less than two years.

Drop the experience argument.

The letter is right on target. Sarah Palin could be the next Maggie Thatcher.

Go Sarah!!!

If you look into Obama's senate record you will find that he has sponsored and co-sponsored many bills. These include major ethics reform efforts. Perhaps this is why the Republicans are so afraid of him.

Sorry Ray. You conservatives amaze me. You would rather have someone with 2 years experience as governor of a small state (and who during those two years has ethics scandals and supported the bridge to nowhere) than a US Senator. You just want more of the same garbage we have suffered for the last 8 years. Grow up and admit we need to change.

Thank you for restating the conservative talking points. I'm voting for Obama/Biden. While we stomp through the muck of details of the past, I'm assessing what their capabilities might be for the future. I see it in Obama/Biden.

Boy, this is a real meaty well thought out opinion.

Facts anybody?

If you're going by amount of PEOPLE governed, Peter Coroon outshines Palin. Also, it's easy to have a huge budget when a majority of that budget is big oil money. Get a new argument.

for ignorance and foolishness.
We elected a very ignorant and foolish man to the presidency eight years ago and look how wonderful that turned out.
Let's try voting for another foolish and ignorant team and see how it turns out this time. It's just *got* to turn out better this time!

Whatever I do, I'm not voting for the hi-falutin' Constitutional scholar-professor....
He's way too smart for me.

Palin and hubby wanted to quit being Americans and have Alsaka be its own country.

No country for old men?

I like her, but so far I haven't heard her say anything about middle class tax cuts or health care for all Americans.

Unless or until she committs to help work on these issues important to the middle class, what difference does it make how bright or outshining she is?

The fervent supporters of the new Republican rock star, Sarah Palin, appear to believe anything they want regardless of reality. This must be the "faith-based politics" so endemic of this conservative sub-group who, while discarding the founding principles of the Republican Party, choose to ignore everything except what they want to believe.

Other than running for a rather powerless office which will see her, if elected VP, going to funerals and officiating over the senate (think Dan Quale), the speeches given by Sarah Palin apparently are being written by the wingnut fringe following the tactics of Karl Rove: Ignore reality and attack the strong points of the opposition even if you have to lie.

So much of the personal criticism of Barack Obama can be readily dismissed by a simple research of the facts. Rather than address issues of substance, unsubstantiated claims are made accussing Obama of every manner of indiscretion and vice. This is junior high school all over again.

It gets very annoying having to restate facts to people like the writer who continually repeat their talking points thinking that ultimately people will believe them. Perhaps it is too much effort for them to separate wheat from chaff.

If I were female, I would be insulted. Senator McCain is only trying to get votes from the women who voted for fully qualified Hillary Clinton. He apparently believes that women will vote for a fried egg if it wears skirts regardless of qualification. American women are among the most intelligent on earth and will not be fooled

So is Palin running for president then? Mccain doesn't have any executive experience!

Anonymous | 6:27 a.m.:

>>>>If you want to support Palin for president go ahead, fine. But lay off the Republican (Rush Limbaugh) talking points by saying Obama hasn't accomplished a singe piece of leglistation in the Senate.<<<<

I wonder... did he vote "present" on his own legislation?

Before I would ever vote for McCain, I want to know if he would re-instate the draft. No one is talking about that, but McCain likes our wars and the Army needs recruits bad. What would McCain do about this?

Community organizers are simple rabble rousers - plain and simple. Obama worked for ACORN which is basically an organization whose purpose is to generate votes for Democrat candidates (from deadbeats , dead people whoever it takes)Get off your high horses. This country wasn't built by community organizers. Obama is being exposed for the fraud that he is.

If palin is the shine you're looking for, and lookng past the fact that she's not the top of the ticket, there's someone who's even shinier yet. Look up Joad Cressbeckler on the net. Joad is what the future of the republican party could be!!

I love how people keep saying Obama hasn't done anything in the Senate. One of the reasons he's become such an inspiring figure is because of all the work he has done as a junior senator. Securing loose nukes to keep them out of the hands of terrorists, creating a tracking system to prevent fraud and government waste, and leading the charge for sweeping congressional ethics reform, just for starters.

All that in two years, and McCain, after how many terms in the Senate, has the audacity to stand up in front of the GOP and say "Throw the bums out!" when they've BEEN the bums for the last eight years.

Sarah Palin has more executive experience than either Barack Obama or Joe Biden, And they are both duffuses, Lets not forget that Barak obama once stated he viseted 57 states. The guy is an idiot, who cannot speek without a teleprompter.

Last month, Karl Rove said the current governor of Virgina, Tim Kaine, was an inadequate choice to serve as Obama's VP, because he had "only" been the mayor of Richmond, with a population of "only" about 200,000, and then "only" the governor of Virginia. Obama didn't choose Kaine, so that was that...

And yet Rove has praised the choice of Palin because of her "experience" as a mayor (of a town of about 6,000) and as a governor (of the state that ranks 47th in population).

???

Could it be that conservatives' opinions of candidates is based solely on party affiliation? And the same goes for the democrats.

There are no objective voices left.

Palin is a great speaker, and seems to be able to connect with people. She is attractive and clearly intelligent. Is she presidential? I don't think so, and I think any honest, objective person would see that.

And the people above are right when they point out that mocking community leaders is a low blow, and shows little class and no respect to a group of people that accomplish great things in this country. Community leaders? What losers those people are!

Since we got to hear about McCain's 96 year old mother multiple times during the convention, it bears mentioning that John McCain II died of natural causes at age 70! Palin for POTUS? What a scary thought.

If the job of Community Organizer is such a valued position and if America needs great Community Organizers, let Mr. Obama do what he has experience doing. Let him be a Community Organizer.

what is really amazing is the people who voted for bush not once but twice, with zero foreign policy experience, had never even been out of the country, and a track record of bankrupt, ruined companies behind him. now he has done the same to the country in less than 8 years, and somehow has deluded himself into believing he did a good job! now they want to follow him up with someone to keep up the same policies while denigrating anyone who would point out the fact that they may be wrong.

if you think that palin would have anything to do with running the government as vice-president, think again. cheney has been leading the us through his puppet, and what a fine job he has done. mccain would still keep the status quo, to our collective detriment, and palin would be the window-dressing to placate the "base" republicans. (don't they refer to "the base" as al queda in some areas of the world?) coincidence?

@hold on (1:31)

Nice try. Obama and McCain bring vastly different backgrounds and needs, thus their VP needs are much different. Obama needed an old hat to add some years to his ticket; McCain needed freshness and vitality. Rove was discussing what would be adequate for Obama, not McCain.

@Gus (11:32). As if the Democrats are any better. They're all a bunch of hacks, and they all have primarily one goal, and they'll do and say what they think they have to in order to get it.

That's why I'm grateful for so many checks and balances, and regular elections. That's the only thing that keeps them at all in line.

Many have commented that Palin dissed Community Organizers. Not true. What she did infer is that being a community organizer is not 'presidential' experience. Seriously, I was one of the 30,000 volunteers who gave their time and energy to the Olympic effort. I never met anyone in any leadership position who was qualified to be POTUS - not even Romney. While Romney did a tremendous job, had this been his only experience, he would not have been qualified.

The point is, all of those Obama supporters who point to Obama's community organizer experience as being equivalent to an elected office such as Mayor or Governor are barking up the wrong tree. They are not comparable.

I did not take Palin's comments as being offensive in the least. I'm a volunteer, and I'm a community organizer (on a much smaller level). While I respect Obama's service, and appreciate his efforts to make the Chicago community better, those efforts are far from being Presidential Experience.e

@galion: Where do you get this stuff? Of course Bush had been out of the country before he was elected President. He even talks about riding his bike around Beijing back in the 70s. There is so much misinformation of this post, that it's become nearly a fantasy site.

Who is a community organizer in Utah. The leader of the Bot Scout Council is a community organizer; as is a skate president. Do these jobs demand leadership? Was Palin's characterization correct for these community organizers?

It was common knowledge McCain hated Mitt. He sure fixed Mitt politically.

Reading these comments McCain ans Palin will be in office for eight years. This is a match made in political heaven. Them Palin will run for president.

Will Mitt be able to run in 2020?

If as being pointed out how conservatives vote and undermine their best interests.

Galion - thanks for contributing, but your comments are way off base. Where is this trail of failed companies that you talk of? Texas Rangers? Family Oil Business (Still running)? I'm missing 'all' of the others. You don't have to lie about George Bush's record to show some failed policies. He has certainly made his fair share of mistakes.

Then you comment that the VP does nothing of importance, then point to the fact that Cheney has been running the show. As it turns out, the role of the Vice President is very much up to the President. Clinton had Gore do very little. Bush gave a lot of responsibility to Cheney. It's still undetermined what role Palin will serve.

What's strange is to see how Democrats are reacting to Palin. If she really isn't a threat, and she has no experience, why are they putting so much focus on her? She should be a non issue. Instead, they are giving her way too much attention, and they give every impression that they are afraid of her.

How does one serve only the poor and needy as a Community Organizer? Obama needs to be quiet about Palin's experience if he doesn't want his examined.

MEB,

Palin very clearly mocked community organizers. She said that "Being mayor is sort of like being a community organizer, except you have actual responsibilities," inferring that community organizers don't. Giuliani followed the same tack.

And no one was saying that his community organizing experience alone gave Obama adequate executive experience. Just as no one says being mayor of Wasilla gives Palin adequate executive experience.

Oh, wait, the Republicans have been saying that.

Call the 21-officer police force! The Russians are coming!

The Dems are running scared, hence the reason for all the inane personal attacks by the Obama hit machine. Palin has more executive experience than the neighborhood organizer, or the old guy (Biden). Sarah is far more principled than either Joe or Barry.

Al Frankin, Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ehers, and Jessie Jackson are all community organizers.. some qualification for the Commander in Chief.

Since when is getting your name added to a bill an acomplishment?