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In a nutshell, definitely not.

The self-effacing hockey Mom is only in this race for two reasons:

(1) She is a woman. After Barack Obama overlooked Hilary Clinton in favour of Joe Biden as his running mate, I have no doubt that the choice of Sarah Palin was an attempt to capture some of the disgruntled Hilary supporters; and

(2) John McCain was always going to have trouble finding grass roots support from the religious right. His running mate needed to shore up this support and he has the perfect partner for this role in the Governor from Alaska.

On both these levels the choice was one geared at giving him the best chance of winning the election. Sadly, the choice goes against many of the values that John McCain ascribes to and comes across as a too obvious cynical move to garner support. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore drilling were two things that McCain was against. One of these has fallen by the wayside in the face of rising fuel costs and the looming threat of peak oil and his stance appears to be weakening on the other. He is also against big government, regulation and made it a central tenet of his policies to stand up against earmarks and the Washington old boys club. Mrs Palin, with her ongoing abuse of power inquiries, revelations of running the state of Alaska as a personal fiefdom, and having the highest per capita value of earmarks in the country, flies in the face of all of this.

These things in themselves do not mean that Sarah Palin lacks the qualifications to be vice president of the United States.

In my view, there are a number of reasons why Sarah Palin should be kept well away from the second most powerful position in the country:

(1) Personal issues. Her track record as Mayor of Wasilla and Governor of Alaska are unquestionably tainted by the Troopergate scandal and the relevations that have since surfaced. Amending travel documents, using Yahoo e-mail addresses for state business, allegations of nepotism and disregarding the advice of state officials to promote her own agendas. All these actions indicate an inability to separate her personal issues from her everyday professional duties. Such a blurring of self-interest is incompatible with the Vice Presidency;

(2) Inexperience. I'm not just talking about executive experience here, but the financial nous necessary to make strategic decisions that will have a financial impact on hundreds of millions of people. Alaska is the most heavily tax-payer subsidised state in

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