Obama has a degree in international relations from Columbia University.

[calteacherguy]

I did not know that (until now). He certainly has a broader world experience than many of our other candidates, and the education to go along with it.

And he taught constitutional law, and spent three years in community organizing in the inner city.

Not a bad resume for a future President.

[Hekate]

1. He's as bright and accomplished as Bill Clinton was.Is he too brainy for Americans?

I know, it always seems like a stupid question to me, too. I look for smarts in a candidate, but the MSM seems to drive this idea that the average Joe wants someone he can go have a beer with. (How that ever applied to Bush, the dry alcoholic, I have never figured out).

Anyhow, Barack Obama has a depth of experience with other cultures and education that none of the Republicans has, as far as I know. Thank gods. And good ideas.

However, he also has that thousand-watt smile, good looks, youthful energy and attractive family -- maybe enough voters will fantasize about having a beer with him!

Hekate

[ludwigb]

11. Yeah

He's too brainy for Americans (and that's not a criticism lol!). So much so that a lot of his stump material doesn't seem genuine sometimes--like he himself knows the cliches he spouts (however well meaning) are frequently BS. He's just too smart for 'populism'.

Anyway his education and knowledge of the constitution are one of his strongest points that speak in his favor as far as I'm concerned. I long for the days when picking a president meant picking someone with leadership qualities instead of some dude you'd like to have a beer with.

[Ethelk2044]

16. your post is bull shit. The average person gets what he is saying

that is why he has the large crowds. He connects with people instead of pandering to them.

[Hekate]

22. I like his stump speech.When I saw him in Los Angeles,he hit every point I was hoping for

My friends and I drove a hundred miles from Santa Barbara to see him in person.His energy seemed a bit low that day (understandable since he'd been traveling), but he still had an enthusiastic crowd of several thousand. At least one of the people I went with that day Is now volunteering her time for Obama, doing Meet-Ups and the like. The only reason I'm not is that I've temporarily "retired" from politics.

It looks like Barack Obama really connects with people, but politics is a fickle thing and the election is a long way off.

Hekate

[ludwigb]

39. I get what you're saying

I just don't like what any good man, including Obama, has to do to become president. It ain't pretty. I guess when it comes down to it, I'm ambivalent about democracy....especially 21st century, Fox News democracy. It's rigged to monied interests.

[styersc]

2. I once heard Newt Gingrich point out that Obama has more

experience today then Abraham Lincoln did when he took office.

[Apollo11]

3. Book learning is not executive experience

But I would be happy to see Obama on the ticket in 2008.

After 8 years as VP, he will be ready for the top job.

[Grandrose]

4. Impressive! K&R

The more we know about our candidates....the better!:) :kick:

[Zynx]

5. I wouldn't make too strong a point of undergraduate degrees. Just a thought.

That was his pre-Harvard Law, just like similar political science degrees are for a lot of people.

[Grandrose]

6. Bit of a put down. Just a thought..

To those of us with no degrees other than high school...I dare say it is a strong point! :)

[Zynx]

27. It's not a put down. I just don't see 20 year old undergrad poli sci classes as relevant

Seriously. Undergraduate education is nice, but it's still basically "school" and is regarded as such by the real world. Putting it forward like he's some IR prodigy because he took undergrad classes is beyond silly; it's just plain weak.

Hell, all his IR staffers would have masters degrees at a minimum, from the same or comporable schools.

[Hippo_Tron]

33. Agreed, I don't expect my undergrad poly sci degree to have much weight if I ever ran for President

I hope that it will help me get a job after college, but by the time I'm Obama's age I would be emphasizing the work I've done since graduating college and not what I did in college if I were trying to get a promotion or a new job.

[Ethelk2044]

36. he has more than degrees

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3380659&mesg_id=3382111

[FrenchieCat]

7. Columbia and Harvard!

Great schools. Neither are easy to get into.

[styersc]

8. Right you are: I have degrees from Columbia and Oxford.

Universiy of South Carolina in Columbia,SC and University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. If I could just find a small university with a PhD program in a small town called Harvard, I'd be an all around faux ivy-leaguer.

[DrDan]

10. well - a fellow USC grad I see . . .

of course mine is from the one on the left

[goclark]

32. I'm from USC in the West

:applause:

Obama has a Brain ~ something that is absolutely missing in the Chimp.

A brain is such a basic requirement but should be a vital part of the resume for a President.

[DrDan]

9. broader "world" experience . . . . uh . . .

not sure I get the same read from that . . .

he has some key experience . . . not sure how "worldly" they are

[Jillian]

12. Book knowledge does not equal experience!

How can you call that experience?

Do you want a surgeon operating on you just because they have a degree???

Calling Obama exerienced in world affairs because he went to college ~ and then taught is one of the funniest things I have
ever heard.

Thanks for making my day!

[maximusveritas]

13. I'd prefer a surgeon who had been book smart and successful

even if he was a little young.

I'd prefer that to an older surgeon who didn't have the book smarts and had killed a bunch of his patients. It wouldn't matter if he had a bunch of years of experience doing substandard surgery.

Of course, I'd prefer a candidate who had the book smarts, the proven success, and a little more experience, but that candidate isn't in the race right now.

[Jillian]

14. Hopefully all surgeons have graduated med school!

I have to disagree with your comment how there isn't a candidate running that doesn't have the book smarts, proven success, and experience.
Both Biden and Dodd have proven experience to run this country.
I prefer Biden because of his foreign relations expertise. Bosnia is a great example of a smart plan by Biden that has worked.
The Violence Against Women's act was Biden's.
Putting more cops on the streets during the Clinton Admin = Biden.
Voting AGAINST Cafta - Biden.

I could go on and on....but later.

And you should thank Dodd for FMLA. I thank him alot for that.

[LordJFT]

15. IMO having the integrity to vote to stop funding the war

(and not support it in the first place) is worth more than thirty years of experience

[frazzled]

25. So I assume you would support Richardson then.

Because he is the only candidate with any "real" foreign policy experience. (I'd add Biden, just because he's been hanging around the Foreign Relations Committee for so long, but I can't "abiden" his blowhardery.)

Obama has no less foreign policy experience than the other top candidates: Clinton and Edwards. (Neither of them served on the Foreign Relations Committee). So what's the beef? The guy studied it as an undergraduate and has been serving on the FRC and traveling widely. Is that something to laugh about? I'd probably laugh more if you said the guy who was a personal injury attorney and was not involved in foreign relations was better suited to address those issues.

[Jillian]

28. No _ I'm just saying that I prefer experience to book knowledge

especially when the world is as f-ed up as it is now, thanks to this administration.

About Richardson, I have mixed feelings about him. New Mexico has not done so well since he has been governor.

Joe Biden has the experience, and the personality I am looking for.

He was asked last week if he was President, which World leader would he invite to the WH first?
Biden's answer - none of them. I would go see them myself.
Leadership, not talking points, not pandering. That's what I want from a President.
I want someone that understands world situations as well as they understand how to start their car in the morning.

This is not the time for on the job experience.

[illinoisprogressive]

17. thanks for the info. did not know that. I thought it was his minor. wow.

[Catchawave]

18. Bush has an MBA from Yale....

...not a bad resume either :)

[Hekate]

23. Bush got in because he was a "legacy",& proceeded to coast his way to "gentleman's C's"

Which he had the gall to boast about when he gave a commencement address there during his first term. Every damn thing in life has been handed to that arrogant twit on a silver platter.

Barack Obama got where he is by sheer hard work and brains -- like Bill Clinton.

Hekate

[Kingstree]

24. So, he's in idiot. College education does not make you smart.

[Ethelk2044]

19. Obama's Foreign Relations Experience

Foreign Policy

Obama's foreign policy experience includes graduating from Columbia University with a degree in political science with an emphasis on international relations. In the U.S. Senate Obama is unique among Senators in that he serves on three of the four Senate Committees dealing with foreign policy issues including the Foreign Relations; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Veterans' Affairs committees and is the Chair of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Relations which is responsible fore U.S. relations with European countries, the European Union, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (i.e., NATO). When comparing Obama's foreign policy experience with other candidates for President you have Democrat Joseph Biden who is Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Democrat Hillary Clinton who is a member of the Armed Services Committee and John McCain who is the Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee yet there is no Senator except for Barack Obama who serves on three of the four committees that deal with foreign policy.

Foreign Relations Committee

Obama service on the Foreign Relations committee has placed him in an unique position in that he is the Chair of the Subcommittee on European Relations and serves on the Subcommittees on African Affairs; East Asia and Pacific Affairs; and International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection. This cross-section of subcommittees places Obama in a unique position of having knowledge about Asian, African and European issues. The only other member of the Foreign Relations committee who is running for President is Democrat Joseph Biden who is Chairman of the full Foreign Relations Committee yet unlike Obama he does not serve on any of the other foreign policy committees and his experience is limited to foreign policy issues covered by the Foreign Relations Committee.

Obama has also traveled extensively in his capacity as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and has visited Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan in Asia; Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, and the Palestinian Territories in the Middle East; and Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa in Africa. Obama has also co-sponsored the "Lugar-Obama Act" with Republican Senator Richard Lugar who was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations at the time. This act was a bi-partisan effort to increase U.S. security in terms of the elimination of conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction. This legislation came out of Obama's trip with Senator Richard Lugar to Russia, the Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Obama has also sponsored legislation such as the "Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act" which was signed into law by President Bush on December 22, 2006. Obama has co-sponsored immigration related bills related to his service on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee including the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. His extensive foreign policy experience exceeds that of every other Presidential candidate including his trips abroad in the performance of his official duties as a member of committees dealing with foreign relation issues.

While some have criticized Obama's foreign travel claiming that he is the most traveled freshman Senator in doing so they often fail to mention that as a result of his extensive trips abroad is legislation such as the Lugar-Obama Act instead preferring to make the political connection between his travels abroad to his run for President yet others will recognize the experience he has gained as a result of his foreign trips and recognize that as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he is expected to travel extensively and that his travels often were with the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Among the three top freshman who have received attention along with Obama in terms of foreign travel you have Barack Obama who serves on three committees dealing with foreign policy, Republican Richard Burr who serves on the Select Committee on Intelligence and Republican Tom Coburn who serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and it must be noted that such travel was part of an official delegation and was approved and paid for by the Senate.

http://www.obamapedia.org/page/Does+Barack+Obama+have+enough+experience+to+be+president%3F?t=anon

[illinoisprogressive]

20. and they say he has no experience and is weak in foreign relations...

[FrenchieCat]

21. Well, in 2004, they said that Wes Clark who has a Masters from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar

in Economics didn't have the experience to deal with the domestic economy.....and so it goes. :eyes:

[UrbScotty]

30. I sometimes wish we could recommend replies on DU like you can on dKos (nt)

[smiley_glad_hands]

26. Ivy League is all fluff.

They gave W two degrees too. There are public schools as good or better than Ivy League. Just saying.

edited for grammar

[BlueIris]

31. You don't know anything about Columbia.

'Fluff' is the last thing they teach there.

[smiley_glad_hands]

40. I dont but my wife does.

She went there, maintained a very high gpa despite having a pshyco roomate. She transfered to a smaller public school, albeit a very good one. She said the workload was much greater at the smaller school. This school is also known as the academic bootcamp. You may be able to figure it out.

But it isn't ivy league, thats for sure. And it aint in the northeast either.

[Hippo_Tron]

34. Education is what you make of it, W drank is way through college

And got C's, which he probably didn't even deserve. Columbia is a great institution with opportunities available to students that may not be available at other schools. If one doesn't take advantage of those opportunities, however, then you will not be well educated.

[Ethelk2044]

35. That is just the point. He has more than just school read my

post above. It would be different if he only had schooling.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3380659&mesg_id=3382111

[pstans]

29. and a civil rights attorney

[ellisonz]

37. More than can be said for Hill...

...and her faux criticism of Saul Alinsky as a senior thesis at Wellesley of all places.

[Evergreen Emerald]

38. the democratic candidates all have outstanding resumes for the job

Contrast the republicans.