Like many Coloradans, I am energized by the nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president on the Republican ticket with presidential nominee John McCain. She brings new excitement and enthusiasm to the ticket. She offers much more than a new and attractive look. Here are the top 10 reasons why she adds value to the ticket when compared to Democrat vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.

1. Palin brings a fresh perspective to Washington. She spent her life and career in Alaska and will bring to Washington a no-nonsense, real-world view. Biden is a career politician who first took office in Washington in 1973 when polyester leisure suits and wide ties were in style.

2. Palin is a proven leader with executive experience. As both a mayor and a governor, she has balanced budgets, cut taxes, and called both government and big business to account for their actions. Biden, like Barack Obama, has no executive experience whatsoever.

3. Palin will protect and defend human life. She has demonstrated this commitment in the midst of challenging family decisions. Her opponent supports abortion.

4. Palin is a fiscal conservative. As mayor, she improved services and put more money back into the hands of the people. As governor, she continued this by slashing the budget 10 percent and ridding the state of wasteful spending, including putting the governor’s business jet on eBay. Biden’s abysmal record on spending is reflected in his “F” rating by the National Taxpayers Union. Biden was on the side of taxpayer only 4 percent of the time in the Senate. That’s even worse than Barack Osama’s “F” rating of 5 percent!

5. Palin understands military and defense issues. She controls Alaska’s National Guard, and has a son serving in the U. S. Army in Iraq. Biden has experience, but poor judgment on crucial matters. For instance, he was unwilling to vote to crack down on countries selling missile technology to Iran.

6. Palin has done more than just talk about change. She has a proven record of reform. She has fought corruption and entrenched politicians, including those in her own party. Her landmark ethics reform bill is now the law in her state. She led an investigation into ethics violations by state Republicans while serving on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2003. Biden, meanwhile, has no serious reputation as a reformer, without even going into his confessed ethical lapses on the campaign trail.

7. She is the only woman on a major party ticket, and the first Republican in history. Yet she is not a career politician. Instead, she started her career as a wife and a mother. Only recently have events thrust her into the whirlwind of high office. Sarah Palin is on the ticket not because of affirmative action, but because of merit.

8. Palin knows the importance of the Second Amendment. She is a lifetime member of the NRA. She vigorously supports our constitutional right to bear arms. And in her spare time, she has killed a caribou or two. Biden, on the other hand, has a long anti-gun record. He has repeatedly voted against many NRA positions. So much so that in 2002 he earned an “F” rating from the NRA.

9. Palin has a deep understanding of energy. She negotiated a $40-billion natural gas pipeline that will bring clean energy to the Lower 48. She took on the Big Oil companies and questioned whether the people of Alaska were getting a fair deal from oil and gas leases. She found the oil companies had not dealt fairly, so she took some of their profits and returned it to the people of Alaska.

10. Palin understands the West. Alaska is very similar to Colorado in terms of public lands and resources. She understands issues of water, minerals, forests and wildlife like only a Westerner can. More than a third of Colorado’s land is publicly owned, as well as half of Alaska’s vast acreage. As for Delaware, Biden’s home state, only 2 percent is publicly owned.

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Lamborn represents Colorado’s 5th Congressional District in Washington, D.C.

Gwyneth Lloyd sold her executive-search firm and became chief program officer for the girl scouts of northeast Texas, putting her interest in nurturing girls to work. She is shown at the organization’s headquarters with girl scout Isabella Walker. Photo by