The Post's fine article today summing up Sarah Palin's "record" as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, got me thinking. If Wasilla were a town in Virginia, how would it measure up?
When Palin took over as mayor, Wasilla's population was about 5,500, comparable to Emporia, VA. Following is a list of Virginia cities and towns that are larger than that. (I'm excluding counties like Fairfax and Arlington that function in many ways like cities in Virginia, just to avoid confusion.)
Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Richmond, Newport News, Hampton, Alexandria, Portsmouth, Roanoke, Suffolk, Lynchburg, Danville, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Manassas, Petersburg, Salem, Winchester, Staunton, Hopewell, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Waynesboro, Bristol, Colonial Heights, Radford, Martinsville, Williamsburg, Poquoson, Falls Church, Manassas Park, Franklin, Lexington, Galax, Buena Vista, Covington, Bedford
Okay, Lexington, Galax, Buena Vista, Covington and Bedford are smaller than Wasilla's current population. Franklin may or may not be, depending on whether you accept Wasilla's current population estimate of 7,025 or the Census Bureau's estimate of 9,780.
Would the mayors of any of these places be ready tomorrow to become #2 (potentially #1) Leader of the Free World? I'd love to hear from some of these mayors re: whether they personally would consider themselves ready. Any volunteers? ;-)