Here is a bit that was displayed on the Republican Governor’s Association site:

Tribune - Sarah Palin started beating a drum about Barack Obama at the Republican National Convention here, and she was beating it again today.

"We don't have a 'present' button as governor,'' Palin said after an appearance before fellow Republican governors in Minneapolis. "We are expected to lead, we are expected to take action and not just vote 'present.'' This, of course, is an allusion to the many "present'' votes that Obama had cast in the Illinois Senate, a common practice there, before his election to the U.S. Senate. (And perhaps Palin was working on her own foreign policy credentials today, addressing the Republican Governors Association at the Museum of Russian Art.) "There's a big difference, of course, between the executive and legislative branches and our experience,'' Palin said, reiterating a theme likely to be repeated often. The vice presidential nominee met with the governors the morning after her acceptance speech - a speech that drew a television audience of 37 million, nearly as big as the audience that Obama had drawn with his acceptance speech in Denver. Democrats have criticized Palin for her pointed remarks about Obama, deriding his experience as a community organizer for isntance. But in a fundraising letter issued today, Palin maintained that "the Obama-Biden Democrats have been vicious in their attacks directed toward me, my family and John McCain. The misinformation and flat-out lies must be corrected." She has "a big job cut out in front of me running for vice president,'' Palin said. "I intend to give this campaign all that I have to give, and I look forward to these 60-plus days on the trail. My family looks forward to this, we're up for it, we're excited about it." She did not, however, field any questions from reporters. End quote (That part about the not fielding questions from reporters is on the Republican site.) The experience that Palin is touting is that of being a member of the executive branch of some government. She was a mayor, and then she was a governor (for two years or so). But now this is the Republican Governor's Association. There are 22 Republican governors in the United States (yes, I saw it on Wikipedia). Of those, let's suppose they all have executive experience. 17 have been in office longer than Sarah Palin. Now, Arnold is not allowed to run for president. And maybe there are others in similar situation. But, are we to believe that of all these governors, Sarah Palin is the most qualified to be Vice President? Alaska has 670,000 people. That state does indeed have money (oil and gas money, I suppose). As governor Palin was able to give rebate checks to the citizens of Alaska. Her state got its share of federal dollars (some might say more than its share, but I don't know how to measure that). My question is, what has she had to decide? How much money to take from the big oil producers? There must be some Republican governors who are thinking right about now "I am as qualified as she is". So, why Palin? There has been a disturbing trend in Republican presidential candidates, since at least Ronald Reagan, to become more and more plain. In his book The Chosen, Jerome Karabel quotes Arthur Howe Jr. (Admissions director of Yale 1953). Howe says: "If high academic ability were the only criterion, we would have to eliminate quite a few future presidents of the country . . ."(Karabel, 2005, 327). The point isn't whether Palin is an appropriate Vice Presidential candidate. But is someone like Palin an appropriate standard bearer for a political party that wants to be in charge of the most powerful country in the world. I think the fundamental difference between the two parties right now is that the Democrats still think it matters who and what the president is.