Why Palin is a BAD CHOICE (by Karl Rove)

I've been neglecting this area for a long time, thinking that people of good sense would prevail in 2008. Now I'm not so sure. Given how the rabid right took to Sarah Palin, I'm a bit worried. According to Karl Rove, Palin shouldn't be considered for the vice presidency, though.

Karl Rove, when there was a rumor that Barack Obama was considering Virginia Governor Tim Kaine as vice president: "With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years, he's been able but undistinguished. I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America. So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, 'You know what? I'm really not, first and foremost, concerned with -- is this person capable of being president of the United States?'"

^^ If you don't believe that Karl Rove actually spoke these words in this election cycle, let me know and I will provide a link to the video where you can watch and listen as he says these words.*

Please note that Wasilla, Alaska, would rank no higher than the 10,000th "city" in the nation, by population, and probably closer to 15,000. Also note that the population of Alaska is 47th among the 50 states. Only North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming have lower populations.

You already know that Karl Rove flip-flopped so badly on this one that he probably sprained his flip-flopper, which is quite a feat for someone as slippery as Rove.

Rove on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin: "She was mayor of the second largest city in Alaska before she became governor," as if that's some great qualification for being vice president. Except that Wasilla isn't the "second largest city" in Alaska.

Or third.

Or fourth.

For those who are factually challenged, such as Karl Rove, here is a list of the 5 largest cities in Alaska:

• Anchorage, 275,043 (largest, 32 times larger than Wasilla)
• Fairbanks, 31,324 (second largest, 3.7 times larger than Wasilla)
• Juneau, 30,978 (third largest, 3.6 times larger than Wasilla)
• Sitka, 8986 (fourth largest)
• Wasilla, 8431 (fifth largest)
  If you use the 2006 government estimates, Wasilla beats Sitka by about 300 people and becomes the fourth largest "city" in Alaska.

Tom Kaine's city of Richmond, Virginia, has a population of 200,123 (metro area about 1.1 million), so it's just slightly smaller than Anchorage, which (as you may recall) is 32 times the size of Wasilla.

Alaska isn't like states where "fifth largest" might actually be a city of some size. The fifth largest city in Ohio is Akron, with 207,000 people. Or Virginia. Richmond is the fifth largest city (200,000+ people), but that's not enough to impress Karl Rove.

West Virginia, a state with few large cities, has more than 5 cities with populations in excess of 30,000 (which would be about 4 times the size of Wasilla) and nearly 20 cities with more than 20,000 residents. (20,000 is more than double the size of Wasilla.) Anybody want to guess what Karl Rove and his minions would have said if Barack Obama had selected as his vice presidential candidate someone who, until two years ago, had been the mayor of Beckley, West Virginia (population 16,830 -- more than 3 times larger than Wasilla)?

So ...

• How do you spell "flip-flop"? Karl Rove.
• How do you spell "hypocrisy"? Karl Rove.
• How do you spell "lying son of a bitch"? Karl Rove.
  

How can people listen to this man without having their heads explode?

*This is the difference between Republicans and Democrats: The Democrats have proof, not rumor and innuendo.