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Sen. John McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice president nomination on the heels of Sen. Barack Obama’s coronation as the Democrats’ presidential nominee.

Quite honestly, it is a peculiar pick, mainly because the political elite and the pundits had Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. Joe Lieberman and Gov. Tim Pawlenty as the top contenders for the Republican vice president pick and because of her relative anonymity.

But to ignore the historic nature of this pick would be dismissive, as this is the first woman to be nominated for vice president in the Republican party and only the second woman to be nominated to the position.

Her record is quite thin though, as she is only in her second year as governor and before that was a city council member and mayor of Wasilla, Alaska – population well less than 10,000.

This seemingly invalidates one of McCain’s strongest criticisms of Obama – his claim that Obama lacks experience as he has only served as a state legislator and a U.S. senator for a short period of time.

But as mayor and governor, Palin has had several more years at the helm of the executive branch than Obama, who has none.

She was also commander in chief of Alaska’s National Guard, which gives her at least a little bit of military experience.

And I’m sure McCain will undoubtedly attribute great credit to her foreign policy, as she has successfully defended Alaska from the newly awakened Russian bear.

She is an attractive candidate to women disenfranchised about Sen. Hillary Clinton’s inability to obtain the Democratic nomination and a way to sure-up McCain’s conservative credentials.

As governor, Palin returned the $400 million earmark for the widely criticized “bridge to nowhere,” while attacking the corrupt GOP wing of her state’s party.

But, she is under investigation for possible ethic violations concerning the firing of Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan, for refusing to fire her exbrother-in-law.

She is also a staunch pro-life candidate, though her policies on gay marriage and drugs are a bit more complex and nuanced, as she leans toward the Libertarian platform of limited government intervention into the daily lives of its citizens.

One thing is certain though – the self-imposed moratorium on electing only old, white men is no longer the case.

It is assured that either an African-American or a woman will be elected to the top positions of the executive branch, seeing that few are willing to accept the possibility that a vote for either Ralph Nader or Bob Barr is the antithesis of a wasted vote.

E-mail James Cannon II at staff1@unfspinnaker.com.