According to the AP, Sarah Palin attended 5 colleges and universities in 6 years before graduating with a journalism degree. In order, the educational institutions which can claim her as an alum are: University of Hawaii at Hilo (for 2 to 3 weeks; it’s not clear she ever actually enrolled there); Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu (one semester); North Idaho College (a 2 year school) for two semesters; University of Idaho, for one year; Matanuska-Susitna College in Palmer, Alaska (1 semester); and lastly back to the University of Idaho for 3 semesters before graduating.
For comparison, here’s Obama’s post high school education:
After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science. […]
Obama entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In February 1990, he was elected the first African–American editor of the Harvard Law Review. Obama graduated magna cum laude in 1991.
In the years between graduating from Columbia and entering Harvard Law, Obama was a community organizer in the South Side of Chicago. Upon graduating from Harvard Law Obama worked as a civil rights lawyer and taught classes at the University of Chicago Law School. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, never worked at any newspaper as a journalist. Reportedly she served a short stint as “sportscaster for KTUU in Anchorage” after graduation. Make of that what you will.
Update [2008-9-5 11:38:55 by Steven D]: For those who think we should avoid comparisons with Palin and Obama, and focus on McCain, here is my answer. Showing how poorly qualified Palin is compared to Obama is an attack on McCain. McCain has been touting his judgment, his experience, and his devotion to serving his country. Yet in his most important decision to date as his Party’s nominee, what did he do? He chose the least qualified person imaginable as his Vice President, a person one heart attack or stroke (or whatever) away from being our Nation’s most powerful office holder, for reasons of political expediency (i.e., to shore up his support among the radical right wing of his party). He had the Council For National Policy (a vehicle for enhancing the power of the Radical Right within the Republican Party) vet her and sign off on her selection as his running mate, for Christ’s sake!
What did we like best about Obama’s speech at the DNC? That he went after the Republicans and McCain hard for his lack of judgment, his impulsiveness and his poor temperament. Well, what better way to attack McCain than to attack his poor decision making in choosing Palin as his Veep? And how do we show McCain used poor judgment and acted impulsively, hastily, without due consideration for the good of the country? In large part by showing that he chose a person who isn’t fit to be President.