After Sarah Palin addressed the nation last night at the Republican National Convention we got to see a different side to her. Gone, the sweet loving mother and devoted wife, and in her place was a trained Republican attack dog.  Palin smugly wrapped herself in the cloak of “small town values” while deriding Obama’s experience as a community organizer, and insisting that her experience as a small town Mayor and Governor were supremely suited to make her fit for office.

 

We keep hearing, in fact, about all the executive experience Sarah Palin has compared to Barack Obama, which is rather annoying in the first place, since Obama is running against McCain.  It is obvious this is a Republican tactic to distract voters from the real issues, but in an effort to refute most of these claims I have accumulated a few facts regarding Palin’s experience versus Obama’s. I think you will see the hockey mom from Alaska hardly holds a candle when compared to the Harvard trained lawyer from Chicago.

 

Sarah Palin’s Biographical Information:

 

Government Service:

Six years as Mayor and four years on the city council of a village only 12 miles square, and with a population of 7,000. She has served 22 months as governor of a state whose entire population is less than the entire population of Indianapolis Indiana. Prior to becoming governor she was the ethics supervisor and chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She did not get a passport until 2006 and has no foreign policy experience. 

 

Academic background:

Palin Graduated from Wasilla High School. Attended Hawaii Pacific College for one semester, then transferred to North Idaho College where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Journalism with a minor in Political Science.

 

Other Employment History

Palin worked as a sports commentator for television in 1988, and worked in her family fishing business.

 

Barack Obama’s Biographical Information:

Government Service:

Obama served eight years in the state legislature of the state of Illinois, which is the 5th largest state by population with nearly 13 million people. Obama served four years as a Senator for the state of Illinois. During his tenure in the Senate he has served as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on European Affairs.

 

Obama also served as a member on the Senate Committees on Health, Education, Labor, Pensions, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He also served on the committees for Environment and Public Works, and the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Academic background:

Obama Graduated from Punahou School, a top college preparatory academy in Hawaii. He attended Occidental College for two years then transferred to Columbia where he graduated with a degree in Political Science. Obama Graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law school and served as the first black President of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation Obama taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago for twelve years, the last eight years there he served as a senior lecturer. He was offered a tenured position, which he refused.

Other Employment History:

Obama worked as a community organizer in Chicago and is a founding member of the board of directors of Public Allies, a non profit organization dedicated to youth leadership development. He’s served on the boards of a half a dozen other foundations, institutes, and non profit organizations. He has successfully published two bestselling books, and he was a practicing attorney and civil rights lawyer for three years.

 

 

Sources:  Palin Wikipedia, ObamaWikipedia,Biography.com