Is it just me or does anyone else think it’s a little odd and disconcerting that “first dude” Todd Palin plays such an active role in the governor’s cabinet?

One of the findings reported in Steve Branchflower’s legislative investigation into Sarah Palin’s firing of Walt Monegan is that Mr. Palin, according to one of the governor’s security staff, spent about 50 percent of his time in the governor’s office, making phone calls, participating in meetings or just hanging out. The same person went on to state, “He had a significant influence, in that he was always interacting with the, the employees there. Any time I needed to get information to the governor, I would always go through Todd.”

As I recall, the majority of the state voted for the modestly qualified mayor of Wasilla in the 2006 gubernatorial election, not her spouse. What’s the deal?

Mr. Palin claims sexism lies at the root of any criticism of his role in the governor’s affairs, stating that no one picked on former first lady Nancy Murkowski and, “It is unfair to apply a double standard against my wife, just because she is the state’s first female governor.” Perhaps Mr. Palin is the one guilty of sexism here and just can’t stand to see his wife doing bigger, better, more important things than winning a snowmobile race.

John McCain’s campaign manager has also tried to defend Mr. Palin’s actions by comparing him to Eleanor Roosevelt, who was very active during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four terms in office. It doesn’t take much more than a cursory glance at Ms. Roosevelt’s biography to see that a comparison between Mr. Palin and Ms. Roosevelt, in the words of akrobotics.com, is like comparing dog turds to oranges. Ms. Roosevelt didn’t spend her time “hanging around” the White House hatching plans to get her arch nemesis fired; she instead chose more important causes to put her energy into, such as civil rights and the abolition of child labor.

So what “important causes” has Mr. Palin pushed for while his wife has been governor? Well, he has lobbied for the governor on oil taxes and made a call in support of moving the capital from Juneau. Then there are all the high level, non-public cabinet meetings that he’s sat in on. And this is all because he and the governor are “best friends”? How sweet.

Why can’t Mr. Palin let his wife/BFF handle her own business and take up some cause of his own? Seems like there are some serious codependency issues going on. (Or, sudden epiphany here, Ms. Palin is actually incapable of doing the job she was elected to do… nah!) It’s one thing to advise the governor as a spouse – it’s a completely different thing to actually do the governor’s job.

If there are doubts as to Ms. Palin’s qualifications for vice president, and there are plenty, those doubts increase exponentially if you throw Mr. Palin into the mix. He’s a graduate of Wasilla High School, took some college courses, registered to vote when he was 35, and was a member of the Alaska Independence Party. Yikes.

The McPalin campaign needs to come out and let the United States know whether we are voting for McCain/Palin or if it’s something more like McCain/Palins. Do we only need to worry about one underqualified running mate or two extremely underqualified running mates? (No pun intended.) It’s an important thing to know what role Mr. Palin will play in Sarah Palin vice presidency.

Protesting Palin: Kea Soza holds up a pro-choice, anti-Palin sign.

As an aside, there was a very enthusiastic Anti-Palin Rally on Saturday morning despite the wet, windy weather. It was awesome to see so many people sharing their opinions in such a relaxed and fun manner. Some of my favorite signs read:

• “Plain Truth Not Palin Truth”
• “Palin Exploits Bristol’s Bay”
• “I Can See The Moon So I’m An Astronaut”
• “Liar Liar Lips On Fire”

Hope there are more to come!