Obama and Palin

As many Obama supporters look upon McCain's choice of Palin as VP incredulously, the typical feedback is that they have roughly the same amount of political experience in terms of years.

I still recall when the first rumors of Obama's possible run were circulating. I remember thinking what a mistake it would be for him to jump in largely because of his inexperience. Once the race was underway, I still was not a supporter. I didn't withhold my support because of black or gay allegiance to the Clintons nor because Obama wasn't black enough as was so often repeated in the news media. I withheld my support because the office of POTUS is a serious matter and in addition to policy stances, any person I vote for must pass my internal gut test. It goes something like this... do I believe him enough to put my very life in his hands, to decide my fate, under the worst type of strain. He was still way to knew and an unknown factor for me.

Sometime around January of this year I realized that he was (a) smart, (b) astute, which is probably even more important than smartness, (c) measured, God we need some of that, and most importantly (d) I determined that I would trust him with my life and country.

So now, onto Palin. I have to admit, I don't like what I see so far. What bothers me is the obvious continued Chritianization of our government that she would represent. That notwithstanding, the biggest difference between Palin and Obama is that we've had 18 months to get to know Obama and absolutely no time to know Palin. Even under the best of circumstances, it is hard for me to see how she can climb the mountain to the level of trust that is required of a presidential nominee. I know she's only the VP pick, but you get the idea.

In short, I trust Obama completely because I've had time to get to know him and observe how he handles situations over an extended period of time. Sarah Palin cannot possible achieve this is 2 months, especially when she only gives prepared remarks and refuses to give press conferences.