For the first half of this year, whenever John McCain was asked what qualities he would look for in a potential Vice President has always said he wanted the most qualified person in the country should the need arise for that person to become President. This is without a doubt a very strong answer. He was often praised for that answer and sometimes said he was willing to cross party lines if need be to find that person. Now that his choice is known, some people (although not McCain personally) have added it is executive experience that counts, something that neither Barack Obama nor Joe Biden has any of.
Taking executive experience as the benchmark, who might he have chosen? The obvious pool is sitting Republican governors, of whom their are 22, one of whom (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is ineligible because he is foreign born. An interesting question is then how does Sarah Palin rank in executive experience compared to the 21 eligible Republican governors. The answer is given in the table below. She ranks 17th. If executive experience were indeed the criterion McCain really valued most, then Gov. John Hoeven (R-ND) or Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) would have been the top choices. If he insisted that the job be given to a woman, then Gov. Linda Lingle (R-HI) comes in next.
| # | Governor | St | Inaugurated | Days | Senator | St | Inaugurated | Days | |
| 1 | John Hoeven | ND | Jan. 15, 2000 | 3,154 | Ted Stevens | AK | Dec. 24, 1968 | 14,498 | |
| 2 | Rick Perry | TX | Dec. 21, 2000 | 2,813 | Pete Domenici | NM | Jan. 3, 1973 | 13,027 | |
| 3 | Linda Lingle | HI | Dec. 2, 2002 | 2,102 | Richard Lugar | IN | Jan. 4, 1977 | 11,565 | |
| 4 | Tim Pawlenty | MN | Jan. 6, 2003 | 2,067 | Orrin Hatch | UT | Jan. 4, 1977 | 11,565 | |
| 5 | Donald Carcieri | RI | Jan. 7, 2003 | 2,066 | Thad Cochran | MS | Dec. 27, 1978 | 10,843 | |
| 6 | Mike Rounds | SD | Jan. 7, 2003 | 2,066 | John Warner | VA | Jan. 2, 1979 | 10,837 | |
| 7 | Jim Douglas | VT | Jan. 9, 2003 | 2,064 | Charles Grassley | IA | Jan. 5, 1981 | 10,103 | |
| 8 | Sonny Perdue | GA | Jan. 13, 2003 | 2,060 | Arlen Specter | PA | Jan. 5, 1981 | 10,103 | |
| 9 | Mark Sanford | SC | Jan. 15, 2003 | 2,058 | Mitch McConnell | KY | Jan. 3, 1985 | 8,644 | |
| 10 | Bob Riley | AL | Jan. 21, 2003 | 2,052 | John McCain | AZ | Jan. 3, 1987 | 7,914 | |
| 11 | Arnold Schwarzenegger | CA | Nov. 17, 2003 | 1,752 | Richard Shelby | AL | Jan. 6, 1987 | 7,911 | |
| 12 | Haley Barbour | MS | Jan. 13, 2004 | 1,695 | Kit Bond | MO | Jan. 6, 1987 | 7,911 | |
| 13 | Jodi Rell | CT | July 1, 2004 | 1,525 | Larry Craig | ID | Jan. 3, 1991 | 6,453 | |
| 14 | Jon Huntsman | UT | Jan. 3, 2005 | 1,339 | Judd Gregg | NH | Jan. 5, 1993 | 5,720 | |
| 15 | Mitch Daniels | IN | Jan. 10, 2005 | 1,332 | Robert Bennett | UT | Jan. 5, 1993 | 5,720 | |
| 16 | Matt Blunt | MO | Jan. 10, 2005 | 1,332 | Kay Bailey Hutchison | TX | June 14, 1993 | 5,560 | |
| 17 | Dave Heineman | NE | Jan. 20, 2005 | 1,322 | James Inhofe | OK | Nov. 17, 1994 | 5,039 | |
| 18 | Sarah Palin | AK | Dec. 4, 2006 | 639 | Jon Kyl | AZ | Jan. 4, 1995 | 4,991 | |
| 19 | Butch Otter | ID | Jan. 1, 2007 | 611 | Olympia Snowe | ME | Jan. 4, 1995 | 4,991 | |
| 20 | Jim Gibbons | NV | Jan. 1, 2007 | 611 | Sam Brownback | KS | Nov. 7, 1996 | 4,318 | |
| 21 | Charlie Crist | FL | Jan. 2, 2007 | 610 | Jeff Sessions | AL | Jan. 7, 1997 | 4,257 | |
| 22 | Bobby Jindal | LA | Jan. 14, 2008 | 233 | Wayne Allard | CO | Jan. 7, 1997 | 4,257 | |
| 23 | Pat Roberts | KS | Jan. 7, 1997 | 4,257 | |||||
| 24 | Susan Collins | ME | Jan. 7, 1997 | 4,257 | |||||
| 25 | Chuck Hagel | NE | Jan. 7, 1997 | 4,257 | |||||
| 26 | Gordon Smith | OR | Jan. 7, 1997 | 4,257 | |||||
| 27 | Michael Enzi | WY | Jan. 7, 1997 | 4,257 | |||||
| 28 | Michael Crapo | ID | Jan. 6, 1999 | 3,528 | |||||
| 29 | Jim Bunning | KY | Jan. 6, 1999 | 3,528 | |||||
| 30 | George Voinovich | OH | Jan. 6, 1999 | 3,528 | |||||
| 31 | John Ensign | NV | Jan. 3, 2001 | 2,800 | |||||
| 32 | John Cornyn | TX | Dec. 2, 2002 | 2,102 | |||||
| 33 | Lisa Murkowski | AK | Dec. 20, 2002 | 2,084 | |||||
| 34 | Saxby Chambliss | GA | Jan. 3, 2003 | 2,070 | |||||
| 35 | Norm Coleman | MN | Jan. 7, 2003 | 2,066 | |||||
| 36 | John Sununu | NH | Jan. 7, 2003 | 2,066 | |||||
| 37 | Elizabeth Dole | NC | Jan. 7, 2003 | 2,066 | |||||
| 38 | Lindsey Graham | SC | Jan. 7, 2003 | 2,066 | |||||
| 39 | Lamar Alexander | TN | Jan. 7, 2003 | 2,066 | |||||
| 40 | Mel Martinez | FL | Jan. 3, 2005 | 1,339 | |||||
| 41 | Johnny Isakson | GA | Jan. 3, 2005 | 1,339 | |||||
| 42 | David Vitter | LA | Jan. 3, 2005 | 1,339 | |||||
| 43 | Richard Burr | NC | Jan. 3, 2005 | 1,339 | |||||
| 44 | Tom Coburn | OK | Jan. 3, 2005 | 1,339 | |||||
| 45 | Jim DeMint | SC | Jan. 3, 2005 | 1,339 | |||||
| 46 | John Thune | SD | Jan. 3, 2005 | 1,339 | |||||
| 47 | Bob Corker | TN | Jan. 3, 2007 | 609 | |||||
| 48 | John Barrasso | WY | June 25, 2007 | 436 | |||||
| 49 | Roger Wicker | MS | Dec. 31, 2007 | 247 |
Now suppose the experience does not have to be executive (something McCain himself has none of). This opens the pool to the 49 sitting Republican senators at the very least. With 639 days of experience as of today, Palin ranks behind 46 sitting Republican senators. If we consider the pool of eligible Republican governors and Republican senators, there are 62 Republicans who have more experience than she does. And of course, if the pool is expanded to former Republican governors and senators and current and former Republican members of the House, the pool becomes several hundred and it is still likely that Palin would rank near the very bottom of the list in terms of experience.
The data seems to point to the conclusion that McCain really doesn't believe experience is so important a qualification since he skipped over a large number of more experienced Republicans in making his choice.