According to the US Census, Wasilla, Alaska is home to less than 5,500 residents and less than 2,000 homes. Less than 0.70% of the population is black, and over 35% of the population don’t even work in the city. The mayor of this small town for a short time was Sarah Palin, who was just recently announced as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate.

Many supporters of both Barack Obama and John McCain have worried that, without an appropriate running mate, their candidacies may fail. It has long been argued that Barack Obama has a limited foreign policy experience-his choice of Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, has turned around any worries of inexperience on the Democrats’ ticket.

John McCain, many of whom have worried about his economic experience, is not in such a sturdy boat. Sarah Palin has experience overseeing five thousand residents, but that is certainly nothing compared to the population of the United States. Not to mention the fact that choosing her will open the door regarding McCain’s age even wider.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that John McCain’s choice of Palin is superficially genius. Although Hillary Clinton’s speech at the DNC last week certainly brought over many of her supporters that weren’t yet ready to move over to Obama, there were still a few left over that have promised to vote for McCain. It is without doubt that Senior McCain (or is it Senator? I often forget!) chose Sarah Palin to attract the female voter.

But the fact of the matter is within the past week, more women have moved onto the Obama bandwagon-there is no doubt that Hillary Clinton’s inspiring speech Wednesday night during the DNC helped this. Palin, however, is pro-life-something that is undoubtedly turning off many women who considered voting for her. She also believes that healthcare should be business-driven, that men can only marry women, and she is a lifetime member of the NRA. She’s also younger than Barack Obama; young enough, in fact, to be John McCain’s daughter.

In a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, one of the most reputable polls in the country, 50% say that she is unqualified for a position as Vice President. In fact, 75% say that the only reason McCain picked her was because she is female. For these reasons and more, almost half of all respondents say that McCain made a bad choice.

Many say that besides her “stint as chairman” of Alaska’s commission on oil (remember, Alaska is younger than John McCain…), she has had no experience dealing with the huge oil companies-something that she will, undoubtedly, need as a vice presidential candidate.

During his official acceptance speech last Thursday, Barack Obama made it clear that “the change we need doesn’t come from Washington; it comes to Washington.” Apparently it doesn’t come from this governor of Alaska, either.