How much experience do you have?

5 Responses to “How much experience do you have?”

1. Ragnar on June 16th, 2008 at 11:38 am

   Enough. A President is made of more than experience - Buchanan was one of our most experienced and his presidency led to the disolution of the Union. Lincoln was one of the least, but he had the strength of character and a vision to save the Union and move our nation foward.

   I, most of America (as all of the polling demonstrates) - and the vast majority of the world, am looking forward to President Obama’s administration.

   BTW - what exactly was Bush’s experience? If experience is the yardstick, then Gore should have been our President in 2000 (of course, if the folks involved in the process cared about the rule of law more than power, he would have been…), Kerry in 2004 and Dole in 1996…
2. BullElephant on June 16th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

   I liken it to buying a new car. If I walk into the dealership and see a car that looks and feels really awesome, I may fall in love with that car for a while, but I’m not going to plunk down a huge sum of money to buy it unless I’ve got SOME reason to think it’s not going to fall to pieces the second I drive it off the lot.

   So, it’s not a question of which candidate has the MOST experience, it’s whether a candidate has passed at least some minimum threshold of experiences that will allow voters to see real evidence of competence and perspective. Granted, nowhere does our history suggest that the people want someone just because they’ve got the longest resume, but the people typically do want someone who has demonstrated some sort of concrete ability to achieve things. Obama has none of that.

   He’s never been in charge of anything larger than a campaign or a Senate office. All but three years of Obama’s adult life have been spent as either a student, a “community organizer”, or a government employee. The other three years were spent as an associate at a law firm. No other major party presidential candidate has ever come this far on such a paltry set of life experiences. The man doesn’t know first hand what real work means; he doesn’t know first hand what goes into running a business or other large organization; he doesn’t know first hand the workings of diplomacy and military/foreign policy; and, he barely knows first hand how Washington works, having arrived in D.C. a mere 3 and half years ago (the majority of which has been spent in the fantasyland environment of a presidential campaign). Obama’s people will no doubt spin these facts as advantages, saying that it uniquely positions him to be a force for “change.” That, along with a gale of airy platitudes from the candidate himself, may excite a lot of people that they’re witnessing something revolutionary. But it won’t change the fact that we have absolutely ZERO reasons to believe Obama actually has the competence or the depth of perspective to accomplish anything. Come September and October, I think a lot of people will come to realize that behind all of the shiny new Obamania packaging there just isn’t much of a product they can trust.

   And, by the way, GWB had been Governor of Texas, in addition to having had extensive business experiences and time in the military. You can argue that, based on his record as president, that experience didn’t prepare him well enough. But you can’t argue that the American people didn’t give weight to that experience when he ran against two career legislators with no executive experience (Gore and Kerry).
3. J.R. on June 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm

   Ditto, BullElephant.
4. Brian R Gentry on June 18th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

   Experience means nothing to me either.

   I’m not looking for someone to run my life or run the economy. I’m just looking for someone to follow the Constitution, which is actually very simple, unless you’re a neocon…
5. ragnar on June 18th, 2008 at 3:37 pm

   Brian is exactly right.

Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!