Senator Fred Thompson just mentioned that Sarah Palin is governor of the "largest state in the union"--something I've heard other Republicans say today. I guess it's on the talking points.
I can't believe I have to make this argument, but here goes. Yes, Alaska is the largest state of the union if you go by size. It's really, really big. But when it comes to governing experience, surely the number of people over which you've presided matters more than the square acreage. Alaska, whose population numbers less than 700,000, ranks 47th out of the 50 states. Only North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming have fewer people in it.
With that, our second grade geography lesson is over. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
--Jonathan Cohn