Sorry, Pat, there is no equivalency between the two...

Let's summarize Obama...

Raised by a single mom in poor family.

Earns his way into Harvard Law School after an outstanding Bachelor's Degree at Columbia University.

Becomes first in his class at Harvard Law

Became President of Harvard Law Review, the most prestigious review in the USA. (Other past presidents include CEOs, Supreme Court Justices, National Security chiefs, and leaders of every stripe.)

Turns down lucrative job offers after law school to become a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. (Which, by the way, is a highly responsible position, because a community organizer of Obama's type answers directly to both the people, churches, and community groups that he is representing, but also is responsible to the city and state government)

Taught constitutional law at Chicago University, one of the most prestigious universities in the United States. Why is that important? Because the first oath of the presidency of the United States is to defend and uphold the Constitution of The United States of America. If one doesn't know the Constitution, how can one defend it?

Became a State Senator in Illinois, a state in which one city has five times the people of the entire state of Alaska.

Here's a Fox News account of his record there.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/25/obamas-state-senate-years-show-bipartisan-record/

His record shows a consistent display of bipartisan, practical, compassionate, and sensible legislation. Some people have questioned his use of the "present" vote, as if to paint him as wishy- washy. Here is an explanation of what a "present" vote actually means in the State Senate. From the Chicago Tribune.

"Because bills need "yes" votes to pass, "present" translates to "a soft no," as Deputy Republican Senate Leader Christine Radogno of Lemont put it. "One use for it is when you favor an idea, but you think the bill has a fatal flaw of some sort," she said. "Another is when you have a conflict of interest. And another is when you want to play both sides of the fence . . . or to avoid casting a vote that your next opponent will try to take out of context."

Across the aisle, Sen. John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, defined "present" as "no with an explanation."

Cullerton said another use of the seemingly squirrelly vote is to "signify displeasure with the process, but not the concept." He added that you'd be hard-pressed to find members of the General Assembly--including key allies of John McCain--who don't use it regualrly for various reasons."

Hopefully this will explain the "present" vote.

Obama was then elected to the US Senate, where his intellect and character almost immediately earned the attention of party leadership, to the extent that he was chosen to speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention.

After announcing his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States, Obama survived a bruising 20-month examination of every conceivable detail of his life. There is not one month of Barack Obama's life that hasn't been examined by hostile critics. In spite of all of, Obama rose to the leadership of the Democratic Party, defeating Hillary Clinton, Edwards, Biden, and the rest of the Democratic contenders.

As chief executive of his campaign organization, he's supervised and directed a staff of over 8000 people, and a budget of over 250 million dollars, dwarfing the town of Wasilla.

He writes his own speeches.

Let's look at Sarah Palin...

NAME: Sarah Heath Palin. AGE-BIRTH DATE-LOCATION: 44; born Feb. 11, 1964; Sandpoint, Idaho.

EXPERIENCE: Alaska governor since December 2006; unsuccessful run for Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2002; chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, 2003-2004; served two terms as Wasilla mayor and two terms on Wasilla city council.

EDUCATION: Graduated University of Idaho, 1987, journalism, after attending 4 other colleges over the space of 6 years.

FAMILY: Husband, Todd; five children.

BUSINESS: Worked as sports reporter for two Anchorage television stations; owned with her husband a snowmobile, watercraft, ATV business from 1994-97. Husband is a North Slope oil field worker.

Unlike Obama, who has been in the national spotlight for 5 years, and has been under the laser focus of the national media and political opponents for a solid 20 months, we know almost nothing about her, and as Damon said, there is a 33% chance that McCain will not survive his first term.

So we don't know much. Details of her life are spotty at best.

We know she lobbied for oil companies as chair of Alaska Oil and Gas Commission, and favors a policy of drilling.

We know that she favors banning abortion even in the case of rape.

We know that she favors banning books from public libraries, like the Harry Potter series.

We know that she believes in Creationism.

We know that she supported a movement that would have made Alaska into its own country. She didn't want Alaska to be part of the United States.

We know she became chair of the Alaska Mayors Commission.

We know she was a lobbyist for the notorious and now-indicted Ted Stevens, including lobbying for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" until the bill was publicly exposed as a boondoggle. Only then did she oppose it.

As mayor of Wasilla, she was in favor of earmarks, even hiring a lobbyist to get them for her small town. She left Wasilla 20 million dollars in debt, after building an unnecessary sports stadium there.

If anybody can add to the Palin bio, I'm anxious to see it