Alaska in perspective!

Apparently Karl Rove said on television today that Sarah Palin was formerly the mayor of the "second largest city in Alaska."

Lies!

In truth, when she was mayor, Wasilla was the eighth largest city in Alaska.

But for some perspective... Anchorage, the largest city, had a 2006 population of some 280,000 people. The second and third largest cities are around 30,000 people each.

When Palin was mayor of Wasilla (1996-1999), the population was less than 5500. (Note that the media have been reporting that she won "two terms" as a city councillor and another two as mayor; it appears that these were two-year rather than four-year terms.)

For comparison, during Obama's eight year tenure as a state senator in Illinois, he represented approximately 220,000 people.

The population of the entire state of Alaska is around 670,000 people, which makes it about the size of Memphis, Tennessee, the 17th largest U.S. city.

I don't know where you live, but think about your mayor. Do you think he or she is ready to be President of the United States?

Whatever you think about Obama, for eighteen months he's been under the microscope, and he can speak intelligently on a far wider range of topics than any mayor I know, not to mention most governors.

So when you hear the talking heads start spouting off about Palin's experience, keep those numbers in mind! And try to imagine Palin sitting in the Oval Office, meeting with Putin, forging a solution on healthcare, or... dealing with any other issue that isn't petroleum-related.