The "Qualifications" for being President are simple.

[MineralMan]

Both Democratic candidates are fully qualified for the office. The voters will decide which one they want as the nominee. That's how we do it.

[LexVegas]

1. They've all been men, so maybe Bernie thinks that is a requirement? nt

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

9. Ahahahahahahaha

Hillarians are so desperate to make this about gender.... Just have to laugh and laugh

[SamKnause]

11. As a 62 year old woman I am so sick of this shit.

My support for Bernie has nothing to do with his anatomy.

My lack of support for Hillary has nothing to do with her anatomy.

It is sickening that people have to bring sexism in to every situation

surrounding this election.

[stone space]

2. Don't start wars. Don't flood our streets with guns.

I could think of a few others, but those will do for now, as both candidates already have some work to do.

[MineralMan]

3. Those have nothing to do with qualification for the office.

They have to do with policies. Many Presidents have taken our country to war. Guns? They're legal for citizens to purchase and own. Which President in our history has proposed banning firearms in individual hands?

See, you're talking about preferences, not qualifications.

[stone space]

5. We just disagree about qualifications, that's all.

See, you're talking about preferences, not qualifications.

Not the first time.

Likely, not the last, either.

[kristopher]

31. Don't champion a political system built on legal bribery

[Lizzie Poppet]

4. In this context, "qualified" has multiple meanings.

In the legal sense, both candidates are qualified: they meet the legal requirements. However, the term can also mean "suited" or "fit for." In this sense of the term, I agree with Bernie

[ecstatic]

28. I disagree. Generally, the word "qualified," in the context of a job, references

the specific criteria required to be eligible for the job, such as background experience and minimum educational requirements. Luckily for Bernie, the U.S. Constitution doesn't set a high bar to be eligible for president--any natural born American over the age of 35 can run.

If Bernie wanted to discuss whether Clinton is "suited" for the presidency, there are dozens of more appropriate and less insulting statements he could have made. Dismissing a well qualified woman or minority as "not qualified" reeks of bigotry.

If anything, Clinton is overqualified for the position:

Clinton's background includes 4 years Secretary of state, 8 years U.S.senator, 8 years as a First Lady of the United States (who was involved in healthcare policy), and 9 years First Lady of Arkansas. She also has a law degree from Yale.

She co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families in 1977, became the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation in 1978, and was named the first female partner at Rose Law Firm in 1979. While First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and 1983 to 1992, she led a task force that reformed Arkansas' public school system.

[kristopher]

32. Candidate Clinton demonstrates consistent poor judgment in executive decision making

[ecstatic]

34. Bernie doesn't have a stellar voting record. And not one senator has vouched for him.

No references from a job? No leadership? Application denied!

[kristopher]

37. Honesty and integrity are prerequisites for the office of President.--- True or false

Candidate Sanders has an outstanding voting record .that demonstrates not only excellent judgement, but also consistent adherence to a strong set of principles oriented around government service for the public good.

[ecstatic]

40. Are you kidding? Bernie lies all the time!

Even about little stuff, like riding the subway! He refuses to tell the truth about which of his plans would actually pass Congress (none), or the real costs associated with his plans (moot point, obviously).

He either hasn't thought through anything that he's proposed or he's lying.

Again, not a single colleague has vouched for him. Why is that? Maybe they know something that you don't? That same crowd ditched Hillary like a hot potato back in 2008 for a relative newbie, but now they prefer Hillary over Bernie.

[frylock]

45. Maybe they know something that you don't?

Everyone knows about Hillary's naughty or nice list. Most Congressional Democrats are too chicken shit to cross the Clintons.

[Lizzie Poppet]

33. Then we definitely disagree.

As I said, there were better choices of words, but I consider Bernie's intent to be clear: he considers her unfit for office...and so do I.

I also don't consider her resume to be a great argument for her suitability. The one major issue she was actively involved in as FLOTUS was a failure. Her time in the Senate was unproductive. She was a terrible SecState. I do respect her Ivy grad degree (I'm kinda stuck respecting that: I have one, too...), but Ivy JDs are not exactly thin on the ground in DC.

She has a good resume in many areas, don't get me wrong; I just don't consider it presidential material.

But the main reason I consider her unqualified (in the "unfit" sense of the term) is her horrible decisions on multiple important issues. War, TPP, fracking, private prisons, and so forth, ad nauseam.

[think]

6. Hillary is very qualified. She's the epitome of a politician.

[MineralMan]

10. So is Bernie Sanders. He's a career politician, too.

I can't imagine someone who is not a politician ever rising to the presidential level. It is, if nothing else, a political office.

One could suggest that Eisenhower was not a politician, but he had long experience dealing with politicians, to be sure.

Our Presidents are always consummate politicians. It's a job requirement, if not a job qualification.

The qualifications for being President are clearly stated in the Constitution. As I always do, I recommend that everyone read the entire document at least once a year. I do.

[think]

14. I'll refrain from elaborating. Wishing you a peaceful & pleasant day. Cheers.

[LonePirate]

7. These back and forth accusations and innuendo about not being qualified are only hurting the party

It is patently absurd to think either candidate is not qualified.

[Fumesucker]

8. Donald Trump is qualified to be President by that measure

He isn't by my measure, is he by yours?

You might recall that your own opinion of Clinton's qualifications to be President has changed considerably over the years.

[MineralMan]

12. He is qualified. He is not suitable.

He is not equipped, through experience, to handle the job, either. But he has the required qualifications. In fact, everyone who runs for that office is qualified. Not all would be good Presidents, though. That's a different question.

[Fumesucker]

13. Then why wouldn't Clinton say Sanders was qualified if it's that simple?

[MineralMan]

15. I cannot speak for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

I have never met either of them. You'll have to address your question to someone qualified to answer it. Perhaps the candidates, themselves, would be the best choice of whom to ask.

[Fumesucker]

17. You are a fairly opinionated person, I was inquiring after your speculative opinion

There must be some rationale for Clinton to evade the question the way she did.

[MineralMan]

21. I assume that Clinton refused to say he was not qualified because

it's patently not true. She has, as far as I am aware, neither said he is or is not qualified to be President. On the other hand, she has been accused of being unqualified. She should not allow herself to be pressured into making such a statement, and probably will not do so.

I'm not a "fairly opinionated person." I am a "very opinionated person." Everything I write on DU is my opinion, and I write a good deal on this forum.

[Fumesucker]

23. She wouldn't say Sanders was qualified, that was the statement she was trying to evade

The chopping of semantics around all this is interesting, you and I know what qualified means Constitutionally but I suspect that knowledge is fairly esoteric in the general population so they will form their own opinion of the meaning of the phrase.

[MineralMan]

26. I find it incredibly sad that most people are not

familiar with the Constitution. It is symptomatic of our failure to elect good leaders and to understand how the government operates.

We are ignorant of how our own nation's government operates as a population. That's more depressing to me than I can say.

[stone space]

27. What I find incredibly sad is how differences of opinion over the qualifications...

...or lack thereof of Presidential candidates such as Donald Trump are spun as ignorance of or unfamiliarity with the Constitution, by those unwilling to accept genuine differences of opinions.

It is a common tactic in the gungeon, as well, where disagreement is commonly spun as unfamiliarity with the 2nd Commandment.

I find it incredibly sad that most people are not

familiar with the Constitution. It is symptomatic of our failure to elect good leaders and to understand how the government operates.

[MineralMan]

29. I'm not familiar with the "gungeon."

I don't post in the RKBA group at all. At this point, I am going to stop replying to your posts in this thread. They have strayed far from the original topic. Further, the "Second Commandment" is a biblical thing, so I don't see how it applies here at all.

[stone space]

43. But you ARE familiar with their tactics.

Paint a difference of opinions on a topic such as whether or not Trump is qualified to be president as a matter of ignorance on the part of those who disagree with your opinion on the matter, rather than as a genuine difference of opinion.

Rereading the US Constitution or the Bible over and over again may give me a better understand of those particular documents, but it will most certainly not effect my opinion on whether or not Trump is qualified to be President.

That's because we have a genuine difference of opinion here, even if you seek to portray it as something else.

It's not a simple matter of you possessing some special knowledge that I lack, even if you seek to portray it that way, for some bizarre reason.

[stone space]

18. If you started this thread to proclaim that Trump is qualified, ...

...you should understand that some of us have higher standards than simply being over 35 and having been born in this country.

He is qualified.

I'll add another qualification to the two I mentioned above: Don't promote Hate.

[MineralMan]

20. Oh, my. I was not the one who brought up Trump.

Of course I did not start the thread for that reason.

Everyone should apply their own reasoning to the decision of whom to support for the presidency. That, however, has nothing to do with the actual qualifications for holding that office.

[stone space]

22. You are using this thread as a platform to declare Trump as qualified.

You should understand that many of us believe that Trump's open Racism and Xenophobia and his promotion of violence are disqualifying factors.

Being 35 is not simply enough.

Some of us have higher standards.

[MineralMan]

24. That's just silly.

You are confusing the meaning of the word "qualified" with something else altogether. There is no candidate for President from either party who doesn't meet the qualifications for that office.

So, if asked if any of them is qualified, my answer would be yes.

I'm not using this thread to do anything but point out what the "qualifications" for being President actually are.

Good day to you.

[stone space]

25. Trump is NOT qualified to be President.

So, if asked if any of them is qualified, my answer would be yes.

[geek tragedy]

30. Donald Trump is also qualified by Bernie Sanders's explicit standards.

Not qualified according to Bernie Sanders: Barack Obama and John Kerry and Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

He should have fun owning that one on the debate stage.

[frylock]

46. And you can link to Bernie specifically stating that neither Obama or Biden are qualified.

Because that is the standard that your group has set, unless of course we're talking about Susan Sarandon, where broad (mis)interpretations of her comments are to be used.

[hobbit709]

16. the only legal qualifications are defined in Article II section 1 of the Constitution.

But I prefer a candidate that is not perceived as being not only in the pockets of the moneyed interests but complicit with them.

[MineralMan]

19. OK. We all have preferences about candidates.

We should not confuse our preferences with qualifications for the job, though. Each of us gets to express our preferences in the voting booth and to discuss our preferences anywhere we wish.

What you are describing are your criteria for supporting a presidential candidate. Every candidate running in both parties is qualified to become President. Only one will. That's what we're up to right now, waiting to see who that will be. We get a voice in that, but it is a small voice on an individual basis.

[kristopher]

35. Why do you play 8th grade word games like this

The concept of being qualified is not limited in the manner you claim. The constitutional litmus test is one set of requirements for the job. However the millions of voters, the media, the academics, the military, the commercial sector etc will all have - subsequent to that constitutional litmus test - their own set of standard by which to judge whether a candidate is "qualified".

YOUR word for the day:
purile
adjective
childishly silly and trivial.

[MineralMan]

36. I think you meant "puerile," not "purile."

Words matter. Everything matters.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[msanthrope]

38. Puerile. From the latin 'puer.' nt

[kristopher]

39. Good job identifying a typo.

You must be proud of the achievement.

[MineralMan]

42. Proud? I'm a writer. I've been an editor

and a proofreader, too. I know how to spell words. I also make typos. When someone lets me know about one, I thank that person and edit the word.

[stone space]

41. I disagree. Trump is NOT qualified to be President.

Every candidate running in both parties is qualified to become President.

Openly stoking Racism, Xenophobia, and violence is a disqualifying factor.

This is the guy who you are insisting is qualified to be President:



http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027744320

[Motown_Johnny]

44. True. Hillary is actually not qualified to be the leader of a Progressive movement or party.

Bernie clearly misspoke.

I hope he corrects his statement to reflect that she is legally qualified to be President, but not to be the leader of any type of Progressive movement or party for all the reasons he listed.

I don’t believe that she is qualified if she is through her super PAC taking tens of millions of dollars in special-interest funds.

I don’t think that you are qualified if you get $15 million from Wall Street through your super PAC.

I don’t think you are qualified if you voted for the disastrous war in Iraq.

I don’t think you’re qualified if you supported almost every disastrous trade agreement.

I don’t think you are qualified if you supported the Panama free trade agreement, something I very strongly opposed, which has gave the green light to wealthy people and corporations all over the world to avoid paying taxes owed to their countries.



Legally qualified to become President? Yes.

Qualified to lead Progressives in any way shape or form? In my opinion, not even close.