"How Much" vs. "What Type" of Experience

*** UPDATE FROM THE FLOOR OF THE CONVENTION: 7 PM Central, 8 PM Eastern ***

Excerpts from Gov. Sarah Palin's speech tonight have been released. Here are two of my favorites:

"Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."

YES! But there's more...

"Here's how I look at the choice Americans face in this election. In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."

I'm getting out the throat lozenges for all of the screaming I'll be doing in a couple hours.

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I'm sitting in a restaurant in the Ramada Mall of America hotel waiting for my reuben with fries. I'm finally catching up on all of yesterday's and today's news, and noticed that Barack Obama contended that he has more executive experience than Sarah Palin:

“Well, my understanding is that Governor Palin’s town of Wasilla has, I think, 50 employees. We’ve got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. You know, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. So I think that our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the last couple of years.”

Really? Are you serious? Not only is it ridiculous that Obama thinks that running for president is the same thing as being president. It's fantastic that Democrats are now trying to defend their top of the ticket against our number two. The McCain campaign made good use of this today:

I, along with others from the Alaska delegation, have been bombarded by the press about ridiculous things like the various pregnancy theories, "big scandals" that really aren't, etc. The one thing that has been bugging me is the question of whether or not an Alaskan governor is ready to be VPOTUS and POTUS.

First of all, I've never really bought this whole argument of "being ready on day one." No one, no matter the experiences that any candidate has, is ready to be commander-in-chief, leader of the free world, and chief executive. Every president has to face very different challenges and is presented with very different opportunities. So to compare and contrast presidencies, and to use past presidencies as campaign material, is really a useless exercise. When I look at a candidate, I look at what type of experiences that candidate has gone through, and not the length of certain experiences.

Besides the personal experiences of John McCain and Sarah Palin, biographies that we've already heard and the American people are getting to know, let's talk about the political opportunities and challenges that Sarah Palin has gone through. As a city councilwoman and mayor, she cut property taxes. And as governor, she has championed modern ethics legislation. She's taken on big oil by deciding to restructure our state's oil & gas tax and deciding to go with an independent natural gas pipeline constructor. She's also worked with big oil to support offshore drilling, development of ANWR, and opposition of the listing of the polar bear on the endangered species list.

John McCain and Sarah Palin have called for and instituted change and reform, whether it was popular or unpopular. When has Obama or Biden had to fight against the wind?

Many reporters and pundits from the MSM have been very condescending towards Alaska, arguing that making decisions for a small town and a small-in-population state is not sufficient experience. I hope they keep on making that arguments, and in turn providing us small town voters from Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Pennsylvania. It's not about "where" you make decisions; it's about "how" you make decisions. Sarah Palin has provided a record of tough decision-making that impacts the lives of individuals that Obama and Biden can only wish for.

Finally, what about foreign policy and the apparent "lack thereof" from Sarah Palin? At first look, Alaska doesn't seem to be the center of the foreign policy world. But Palin has worked with international oil companies. Her administration manages one of the busiest cargo airports in the world. The National Guard that she is the commander-in-chief of manages the National Missile Defense system in Ft. Greely, Alaska. She has had several trade meetings with our East Asian partners. As one delegate put it, Alaska feeds America, supplies America, fuels America and defends America. Palin provides McCain a great opportunity to merge foreign and economic policies.

Sarah Palin might not know everything, but we don't need the "I-need-to-prove-I-know-more-than-you-do" candidates in Obama and Biden. Palin's ability to learn, and then lead, will be a fresh approach in the West Wing. So, I beg the MSM and the liberal blogosphere to keep on attacking ... and finally show their true elitist colors.