The anti-Obama forces are tapping into the “he doesn’t have enough experience” spin. On the surface, it seems reasonable. But only on the surface.
If you dig (or think) a little deeper, you’ll have to consider the following logic problem; Does “years served in Congress” actually mean anything? Did Tom DeLay’s “years in Congress” make him a better man? A man you’d more likely vote for President? How about Bob Ney? How about Larry Craig? The list of losers, the list of men and women who learned the wrong lessons, is almost endless.
No. “Years in Congress” means little in terms of smarts or leadership ability or knowledge about the world in general. The Congress isn’t some sort of academy, unless your field of study is fund-raising and pandering.
Obama has been compared to JFK since his convention speech. I felt it that night. Made the hair stand up on my neck. I remember turning to my wife and saying, “Hey, that’s you next President.” And even though JFK had more time in Congress, did it really matter? Would John Kennedy have been the same man, the same President, six or eight years earlier? My guess is; yes. And so will Obama.
My take, Pilt
Pilt, let me preface this by saying if Obama is our party’s nominee he’ll have my full support, but there is a fair amount of truth to the experience argument.
Having been a federal bureaucrat, one of the biggest advantages to any politician is understanding exactly how the bureaucracy works, where the real (not nominal) power resides and how decisions are made. This is exactly what has made Dick Cheney so powerful and able to push the country in a direction only a minority wants. Cheney understands who wields the real power in the bureaucracy and has been relentless in making sure only his true believers occupy those spots. They, in turn, have been able to hire other true believers as professional civil servants who are now part of the continuing federal workforce and can potentially rise to doing their own hiring and continuing the Cheney/Bush legacy.
THAT is where I think Obama is inexperienced – he doesn’t understand the bureaucracy or how to rid it of the folks the current administration has buried within it.
pd
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