On June 1, I decided enough is enough. I’d covered the primary election for months and, being the political junkie I am, researched every local candidate to the start of their political careers. When talking with friends and coworkers regarding the candidates, though, I realized a few things.

One, many people were oblivious to the fact two of the soon to be termed out City Council members who voted to underfund the pension (ultimately humiliating and nearly bankrupting the city) were running for City Attorney.

Fewer were aware one City Council candidate was accused of masturbating in his truck while campaigning door to door in Kensington. And far fewer were aware roughly 80 percent of the things one of the mayoral candidates – cough … Steve Francis … cough – promised to do (lowering gas prices, lowering the cost of electricity, implementing green curriculum into schools) were things over which the Mayor of San Diego has no control.

I blogged about the candidates and passed the link around so more would be informed when they cast their primary ballots.

With the presidential election, the stakes are much higher, and those who aren’t informed should be. Some tout John McCain as a “maverick” or forward-thinking “liberal Republican” (an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one) – and his status as an independent thinker was touted again when McCain made his pick for vice president last week. I can’t help but wonder, though, what he was smoking when he chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Let’s look at her background.

Palin has been in politics for 14 years, when she began her first of two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, City Council. Between 1992 and 1996 when Palin served, the town population was roughly 5,200. In 1996 she was elected mayor and held the office until 2002. In December 2006 she was sworn in as the state’s governor.

Now, look at the numbers. According to the recent census, the population of Alaska is 626,932 – or, roughly half the number of people living in the city of San Diego. Why is this important? Well, if McCain and Palin are elected to the White House and McCain kicks the bucket, the Alaskan hockey-mom will run the country.

Palin – a strong advocate of family values (and supporter of “creationism” being taught alongside the theory of evolution) – is a mother of five. Earlier this year, she gave birth to her fifth child, Trig, who was born with Downs Syndrome. She returned to work three days later.

Pro-life activists are praising Palin for having the baby, despite knowing he would have a developmental disability. They’re also praising Palin for supporting her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, who is five months pregnant. News reports say Bristol plans to marry the father of her child. What is interesting, though, is Palin has been a staunch opponent of sex education in schools. She supports abstinence-only programs – which clearly did not work for her family.

There were, of course, the rumors Trig is actually Bristol’s first child – and that Palin faked her pregnancy to cover for her daughter. That seems to have been dispelled, but, it’s not as far-fetched as selecting a no-name governor from Alaska to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Time will tell whether Palin has anything to hide, and her qualifications (or complete lack thereof) will become evident quickly.

For the sake of balance, I sought a differing view on Sarah Palin, from a credible source … well, OK, a source.

None other than Lindsay Lohan decided to give her two cents on Palin.

In a Sept. 2 MySpace blog, Lohan wrote, “I’ve been watching the news all morning, like everyone else and I keep hearing about the issues related to ‘teen pregnancy.’ It’s all related to Sarah Palin and her 17-year-old unmarried, pregnant daughter. Well, I think the real problem comes from the fact that we are taking the focus off of getting to know Sarah Palin and her political views, and what she can do to make our country a less destructive place. It’s distracting from the real issues, the real everyday problems that this country experiences.

“I am concerned with the fact that Sarah Palin brought the attention to her daughter’s pregnancy, rather than all world issues and what she believes she could possibly do to change them if elected. I get Sarah Palin’s views against abortion, but I would much prefer to hear more about what she can do for our country rather than how her daughter is going to have a child no matter what.”

See, even Lohan has done some research. And in the end, we’re each responsible for doing our homework and forming opinions. With an election that will define marriage in our state, and the direction of our country, now might be a good time to pay close attention to the news.