War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strenth. Obama is not ready to be President.

[UrbScotty]

I just think it's ironic that Obama - the most experienced of the top three contenders - is the one whom people attack the most as being too inexperienced. They say he's not ready for the highest office in the land.

Really?

Obama has served in the US Senate for about 2 1/2 years, and in the State Senate for 8 years before that. He's been an elected official for more than a decade now.

Hillary has held an elective office for about 6 1/2 years now. John Edwards, meanwehile, is the least experienced of the three major candidates, having served just one term in the Senate. So Obama has almost as much experience as Edwards and Hillary combined.

So if you were to judge a person's readiness for the White House based solely on years served in elected office, look who is the most qualified for the White House among top-tier candidates, and look who's least qualified.

Of course, if you're like me, experience is not just a quantitative thing; it's a qualitative thing as well. More on that in a future post.

[Clintonista2]

1. Hillary was very active within Bill's administration

That's the most valuable kind of experience, and experience that no other candidate has.

[BeyondGeography]

2. But she had nothing to do with the Telecommunications Act of 1996

That's in "Ask Al Gore about it" territory. In fact, everything that didn't quite work out in Clinton I will be referred to as "Ask Al Gore" territory. Keep your hands clean and kill a would-be competitor at the same time. That's our girl!

The point, you ask? You can't claim tenure as a First Lady as legislative experience if you only cherry-pick the good stuff.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

8. How does being the first lady qualify her to be president?

Hillary acts as though all the places she visited as First Lady somehow give her foreign policy experience. Laura Bush has basically visited just as many places. Does that qualify her to be president?

[Myrina]

10. excellent point.

:patriot:

[beastieboy]

3. If it's not quantitative, why harp on the quantity?

His experience is fine. He could have 100 years experience and I'd say he's not ready. He doesn't instill alot of confidence in me.

[durrrty libby]

4. BO is naive and inexperienced with the world stage. Period

[beachmom]

5. Yep, I agree. I think state experience counts and matters. I also

will add that that his 2 1/2 years experience in the Senate includes being on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a committee neither Sen. Clinton or Sen. Edwards served on.

Also, don't forget him teaching constitutional law (pretty important in this day and age) and being a community organizer in a rough part of Chicago. Those are experiences the others don't have.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

6. All else aside, I have a hard time calling 8 years in the IL state senate relevant experience.

[durrrty libby]

7. It's like saying someone has 8 years military experience because

they once belonged to the boy scouts and wore a uniform

People try to justify all kinds of bull. It's laughable

[Odin2005]

23. What a disgusting insult of state legislators.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

15. Why not?

Obama was a Senator from the 5th most populous state and then served in the U.S. Senate. I think that's pretty impressive. Bill Clinton was Governor of the 33rd most populous state in the nation. True, he was the top executive but Arkansas has less than one third the population of Greater Chicago. Prior to that he had lost a congressional race. I think Bill Clinton did a good job, despite his lack of experience going into the race.

[beaconess]

18. Wanna talk about relevant experience?

I think we can all agree that hands on experience is the most "relevant" experience of all - any other kind of experience is analagous at best.

George W. Bush has been president for 6 1/2 years. Next to Bill Clinton, he's had more hands on experience at being president than anyone alive.

How's that working for us?

[CTLawGuy]

19. What a coincidence

I have a hard time calling 8 years of being an unelected First Lady "experience".

[zulchzulu]

20. Yeah, his record as State Senator proves it's just a gig at a pool hall

I mean, from the his record as State Senator, it looks like all they were doing was watching Bears games on ESPN.
:sarcasm:

Obama’s state senate votes on some key issues:

BUDGET & TAXES

Voted to raise the minimum wage in Illinois from $5.15 an hour to $6.50 an hour over two years. (2003)
Helped pass a 5 percent earned-income tax credit for low-income working families in 2000; made the credit permanent in 2003.
Voted to end $300 million worth of tax breaks for businesses. (2004)
Voted against making permanent the repeal of the state’s 5 percent sales tax on gasoline. (2000)

HEALTH CARE

Voted for having Illinois endorse embryonic stem cell research. (2004)
Successfully sponsored the Health Care Justice Act, a study of ways to implement a universal health care system statewide. (2004)
Voted against restrictions on public funding of abortion. (2000)
Successfully co-sponsored a prescription drug discount buying club program for seniors and the disabled. (2003)

CRIME & GUN CONTROL

Voted against letting people argue self-defense in court if charged with violating local weapons bans by using a gun in their home. (2004)
Voted to let retired police and military police carry concealed weapons. (2004)
Successfully sponsored requirement that law enforcement videotape interrogations of suspects in some serious crimes. (2003)
Successfully sponsored law enforcement study of the race of people pulled over for traffic tickets. (2003)
Helped pass an overhaul of the state’s troubled death penalty system. (2003)
Unsuccessfully sponsored measure to expunge some criminal records and create an employment grant program for ex-criminals. (2002)
Unsuccessfully sponsored limit of one handgun purchase per month. (2000)
Voted against making gang members eligible for the death penalty if they kill someone to help their gang. (2001)

MISCELLANEOUS

Unsuccessfully co-sponsored ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation. The measure became law after Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate. (2003)
Successfully sponsored move to shield Illinois workers from federal rules that threatened overtime pay for some employees.
Successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform called the Gift Ban Act. (1998)
Voted against giving tax credits to parents who send their children to private school. (1999)

http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2007/06/13/obamas-voting-record-in-the-illinois-state-senate/

[Gidney N Cloyd]

24. I like Obama. A lot. I'm just pointing out that:

- The Illinois legislature isn't even a full time job.
- The Illinois legislature doesn't deal with much of national importance or even analagous to national importance. Unless we declared war on Indiana or set up free trade agreements with Wisconsin and Kentucky or brokered a peace treaty between Missouri and Arkansas and I missed it all, I just don't think it counts for much. The bulk of the work in Springfield is done by a handful of wheeler-dealers like Mike Madigan and Emil Jones and the rest of the reps and senators just show up for the vote.
- Serving in state legislature does show us that Obama knows how to campaign and win elections but I think his accomplishments outside of that body are far more impressive.

[killbotfactory]

9. And would a constitutional scholar know about our Federal Government, anyway?

:eyes:

[sandnsea]

11. And leadership and organizing accomplishments

With real results for real people. Chicago isn't chicken feed politics, that's for sure.

[AtomicKitten]

12. plus they are flat-out discounting his awesomeness

:)

[CTLawGuy]

13. AWWWWWWK!

not ready for Prime time

AWWWWWWWK!!!

not ready for prime time

Whee hoo!

[CTLawGuy]

14. see state experience means nothing

states are unimportant dontcha know? They never do anything of importance. It's like summer camp really. They play dress up and talk into microphones.

:sarcasm:

[Lucinda]

16. Perhaps you should read Clintons bio

[whirlygigspin]

17. we don't need no stinkin xperience...

let's ask the President of Canada

[robcon]

21. Experience is overvalued, IMO.

The most important attribute to have in a presidential candidate is trust, not their policies or prescriptions. It is their reactions to totally unanticipated events, actions, and disasters that are the hallmarks of great presidents. That's where boobs like * are exposed for the fools that they are.

Obama's not as ready to be entrusted with the presidency as other Democrats, IMO, based on what he has said in the last month.

[Odin2005]

22. I think part of the whole "inexperienced" meme is generational.

Obama is a Gen-Xer. Indeed, he the first member of Generation X to have a serious chance at the Presidency. That possibly grates on the nerves of aging Boomers not wanting to admit they are getting old. The hypothesis is probably BS, but it was a thought I had.

[michaelwb]

25. Nope late Boomer

Baby Boom is 1946 - 1964 births.

[Odin2005]

26. The years of the demographic boom does not = the sociocultural generation.

According to a book I've read called Generations by social historian William Strauss the Baby Boom generation as defined socioculturally includes people born between 1943(oldest people who have practically no memories of the WW2 period)and 1960. Generation X according to the author was born between 1961 and 1981 and Generation Y (which he calls the Millennial Generation) started being born in 1982. The author points out that the term "Generation X" was coined by folks born in the early 60s to distinguish themselves from Boomers.