Maybe Republican presidential candidate John McCain should have selected Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton as his running mate.
After all, he has as many constituents and 14 more years of executive experience than Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
It seems to us that this time around, even the Republican spin doctors know how thin their case is, explaining the frantic, over-the-top efforts to glorify the “executive experience” that apparently impressed Senator McCain so much that he just had to have her on his ticket.
If you know anything about Alaskan state government, you’ve got to find all of this hilarious. There’s just no question that state affairs in Juneau require less skill and knowledge than those found with most big city mayors.
After all, if the population of Alaska was a metro area, it would rank between #73 Sarasota and #74 Springfield, Massachusetts.
Well, to give Governor Palin her due when compared to Mayor Herenton, she does actually have about 9,450 more constituents.
Of course, Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton tops the number of Governor Palin’s constituents by slightly more than 26,000, so in truth, we guess he would make the ultimate vice-presidential candidate, but then again, maybe he’s overqualified for the job, using the McCain yardstick for executive experience.
Meanwhile, as for Governor Palin’s much-vaunted foreign policy experience – complete with video of her with National Guard members – it’s worth noting that Alaska has less about 1,600 troops. Tennessee has 14,000.
Amazingly, so far, the talking heads for the Democratic Party and the incessant chatter by cable political reporters haven’t managed to put all this experience into the context that it deserves.
