Dems have been attacking Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin as inexperienced. I don't think that is quite the right way to go after her, I think it is something slightly different. That is who has what it takes to be President. Despite how long he has been Senator, I think most people can now imagine Obama as President; he clearly is an intellectual force to be reckoned with, and a great leader. People can imagine McCain, Biden, and Obama as President, but as of now, they can't see Gov. Palin there. That is what happens when McCain picks the first pro-life woman in the party he can find. And this is what happens when he makes a pick about winning, rather than Obama's pick about governing.
Barack Obama, despite his lack of experience at the national level, has written two books. He was the editor of the Harvard Law Review, he was a Constitutional Law Professor, and he was right from the beginning on the War. And, by the way, he beat Hillary Clinton in a Democratic Primary after running a masterful, drama-less campaign. Whatever you think of Obama, he has heft, and you can imagine him tackling the issues and talking with foreign leaders as President.
Sarah Palin is a self-described hockey mom. She was the runner up in the Miss Alaska 1984 beauty pageant, and won Miss Congeniality there. She has no foreign policy record, and has little else on other big issues.
This pick is about winning the election; he thinks Hillary supporters want to see a woman in office and don't care about the issues. So he looked at a list of Republican women and found the most credentialed one that is not pro-choice. He got Sarah Palin. A pick that is the opposite of Biden; generates excitement initially, but looks worse and worse over time.
What was historic about Hillary's candidacy is not that she was a woman, but a serious candidate who could easily be President (and also is female). She has the experience, the knowledge of the issues, and the depth to take on the world's hardest job. Biden has his foreign policy experience, Obama has his intellect and leadership skills, and his foreign policy judgment (and I could go on), even McCain has (of course) his time as a POW and in the Senate. Sarah Palin has her time as PTA leader (this was actually cited on MSNBC by a Republican as relevant experience). And is of little value when actually in office. Hillary was a candidate who happened to be female. Sarah Palin is explicitly a female candidate. But could she be President?