About Obama and the "Experience Question":

[hedgehog]

From Andrew Greeley's column in the Chicago Sun-Times.


"One could reply by citing another citizen of Illinois who ran for president, another man of integrity, intelligence and honor whose experience was also mostly in the Illinois Legislature and a year in the House of Representatives. With two years in the Senate, Obama could boast more "experience" than Abraham Lincoln."

Father Greeley goes on to note the record of experienced politicians such as LBJ, Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Bush 43.



http://www.suntimes.com/news/greeley/164863,CST-EDT-GREEL08.article

[napi21]

1. I don't think you want to use Shurb as an example!

One would think we should have learned from our own experience with him that HIS lack of experiencehas seriously harmed our Country.

[hedgehog]

5. Old George was a Governor, don't cha know.

Surely that counts as experience!

[napi21]

8. Not in TX ! That State has the least responsibility assigned to a

Governor of any of the 50! It's a social photo-opp job! Of course Shrub managed to screw that job up to!

[hedgehog]

10. I never said it was real experience.

All it has to do is look good on the resume!

BTW- how come the experience question never comes up with Hillary?

[spanone]

11. I think it is more his lack of intelligence and unwillingness to learn.

[wtmusic]

2. This comparing Obama with Lincoln is a bit premature, no?

Maybe we should start listing the inexperienced pols who went down in flames...

[hedgehog]

6. If you're going to make experience a major factor, I think the

reminder is apt.

[wtmusic]

9. Maybe apt, but statistically fallacious

Examining the records of all presidents would likely show that experience was helpful.

[Deep13]

3. 6 years in the Senate is pretty substantial.

It is not as substantial as 8 in the House, 8 in the Senate and 8 as Vice President, but it's still pretty good.

[emanymton]

4. After The Past Six Years Of 'This' Experience, Lack ...

of experience can be seen as a true plus! shrub has shown his experiences (what ever they were) have not been helpful for him or USA.

[Orsino]

7. Heck, yeah.

If Obama can be inaugurated before he becomes too good at whoring for Big Money, he can be my prez.

[wakeme2008]

12. Both Clinton and Bush had no experience

but one was a fast learner and the other a dumb ass... :)

[hedgehog]

16. Clinton had been Governor of Arkansas.

I think that counts as experience.

[goclark]

13. Thank you for this post

I agree ~ Obama reminds me of Clinton, SMART! A WORLD VIEW! WILLING TO ISTEN and CAN BRING HIS BRAINS to the table of Communication.

We see how much GW's "experience" has given us.

[Strelnikov_]

14. The Modern POTUS Is Equal Parts Cheerleader And (CEO) Decision Maker

It is apparent he is well suited for the cheerleader part in rallying the nation.

As for the CEO part, like most CEO's, their performance is based on surrounding themselves with good people, being willing to listen to said people, and having the ability to make an intelligent informed decision. I think he is also suited for this second part.

And he has been in politics long enough to know how that business is run.

My preference list right now is Gore<->Clark->Obama. I like Clark, but maybe the best role for the General, is as a Vice President designate to shore up the foreign policy creds of either a Gore or Obama.

[housewolf]

15. The odds of ANY current senator being elected president is astronomical!

Take a look at it. The last person to be elected president directly from the Seante was JFK. Prior to 1960, in the whole history of our country, a VERY small number (like in the range of 2-3) senators were elected into the White House. A few more had moved from the Seante into the vice presidency and then elected into the presidency.

For whatever reasons, Americans do not like to promote senators into the presidency.

By historical standars, the odds of ANY of today's senators moving into the presidency is miniscule. Maybe some of these folks think that they can be the exception to the rule... and maybe one of them will, but the odds are extremely stacked against them.

Governors have better odds.