As a vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is a double-edged sword, says University of Nevada Las Vegas political science professor David Damore.

“The risks of course are that she is an unknown, has never been in the national spotlight, has no foreign policy experience, and represents an absolute Republican cesspool of a state (her being under ethics scrutiny thie early in her term probably does not help much on that front),” Damore writes in an e-mail.

“It was a risky pick, but at least for today there is no discussion of Obama's speech,” said Damore.