How much does experience matter?

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Nowadays, a Candidate Can Seem Too Experienced
By RYAN LIZZA
Published: March 18, 2007

RUNNING a credible campaign for president has always required an elusive mixture of star power and experience. But Barack Obama’s strong challenge to Hillary Clinton and Rudolph W. Giuliani’s recent surge past Senator John McCain in the polls raise an interesting question: How much does experience matter now in presidential politics?

After 9/11 it seemed that high-level government experience would be more important than ever. And yet, neither Mr. Obama nor Mr. Giuliani have the kind of governing experience traditionally seen as a prerequisite for White House service. Mr. Obama spent nine years in the Illinois State Senate and two years in the United States Senate, while Mr. Giuliani has served two terms as mayor of New York.

Mr. Obama’s short résumé is sometimes compared to that of John Kennedy, who is remembered by some as a president who charmed his way into office when he was still a little green. But the comparison only underscores how the bar for experience has been lowered in the ensuing decades. Kennedy, after all, had five years in the Navy, six years in the House, and eight years in the Senate, not to mention a Purple Heart, the Navy Medal and a Pulitzer Prize.

As for Mr. Giuliani, he would be the first president whose last government job was mayor.

Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Obama are not alone. The other major Democratic rival is John Edwards, who served one term in the Senate. On the Republican side, Mitt Romney, though he had a long business career and successfully ran the 2002 Winter Olympics, can point to a four-year term as governor of Massachusetts as the sum total of his governing experience. When Jimmy Carter, the last one-term governor to make it to the White House, ran for president in 1976, his brief stint as governor was considered a major issue, though so far, it’s rarely been discussed as a liability for Mr. Romney....

Mr. Bush came to Washington on a promise of creating the most experienced administration in a generation but has presided over a mismanaged war in Iraq, a botched response to Hurricane Katrina and a capital mired in scandal....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/weekinreview/18lizza.html

[solara]

1. Excellent point

Experience is definitely something that should be considered seriously.

For instance, consider Bill Richardson (D), Governor of New Mexico. He has a master's degree from Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, served for 14 years in Congress and is the current Governor of New Mexico.

"As a congressman, he kept his interest in foreign relations. He visited Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba, Peru, India, North Korea, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Sudan to represent U.S. interests.

In 1995, he traveled to Baghdad with Peter Bourne and engaged in lengthy one-on-one negotiations with Saddam Hussein to secure the release of two American aerospace workers who had been captured by the Iraqis after wandering over the Kuwaiti border. This was one of several times that Richardson went overseas during the Clinton years to negotiate the release of American prisoners. He was also successful in this task in Sudan and North Korea.

He also previously served as Ambassador to the United Nations, and U.S. Secretary of Energy. He was chairman of the 2004 Democratic National Convention as well as Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association in 2005 and 2006, overseeing the Democrats' re-capturing of a majority."

Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Richardson

But Richardson is no rock star and folks just don't think he looks good enough to be a viable candidate for President.


:crazy:

[pscot]

2. The stakes in this election are way too high

to take a chance on someone who's going to need extensive OJT. Assuming our person wins, they are going to need the credibility and the competence (not to mention the rolodex) to put together a government in quick time. They are going to be dealing with war, terror, global warming, an energy crisis and the potential for an economic meltdown, right out of the box. In addition there needs to be major housecleaning at Justice, Interior and Defense. This isn't a job for an amateur, no matter how gifted. Gore, Clark and Richardson qualify. Hilary, maybe, though she is not my cuppa tea.

[pnwmom]

3. With Obama, the question is not lack of experience -- he's got a fine

resume -- but the question is, what kind of experience matters?

I, for one, like the fact that he's been a community activist.
I love the fact that he's taught CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. We need a President who actually understands and supports the Constitution.