The main thing to be said about Sarah Palin, John McCain's choice for vice president, is that she's a refreshing change.

She has a husband with a real job. She has a large family with real issues of the type that families often face. (One of their daughters got pregnant at 17. Well, welcome to life in Alaska and the rest of the United States.)

These people are not super rich. Also, they have not spent their life on the public payroll. That's one thing. Another thing is that the lady has courage. If she didn't, she would have refused this offer to walk out on the national stage, to be prodded and examined from every side and have her life turned inside out.

Experience? Wisdom? Well, who knows? But a mother of five kids in a small Alaska town probably has more of both than your average maker of rules and regulations in Washington, D.C.

And if not, let's remember that the vice president's role is just to wait. With luck, she'll have plenty of time to learn. (hh)