Experience

When I was at Maloney's Tavern yesterday watching the Gator game, I overheard two guys talking about the election. One was saying "I'm really not sure about Obama. He just doesn't have enough experience. The Republican ticket has lots of experience at the top of the ticket, and little at the bottom, and the Democratic ticket is the other way around. I sure hope McCain wins." You hear this a lot right now...especially in Arizona (McCain's home state). The experience factor.

Let's look at this. McCain has been a Senator for 22 years. Obama has been a Senator for 4 years. What kind of experience does one gain from being in the Senate for 22 years versus 4 years? To me, and many others disenchanted with the way Washington works, when you're a senator for decades, you know better how to work the system. You're a "good old boy." Yes, you're experienced in various committees and votes, but you're also experienced in crony-ism and lobbyists. And this is not a Republican thing, it's a Washington thing. Democrats are guilty too. The fact that most of McCain's campaign advisers are lobbyists or former lobbyists reinforces this notion.

Maybe I'm just naive, but if someone wants things in Washington to change and not be run by old men using their power to favor special interests over constituents, then why would anyone want a 22-year veteran Senator over a Senator with enough experience to know how things work, but hopefully not enough to be corrupted by the Washington power machine?

To me, the question is not quantity of experience, but what that experience has consisted of. McCain does have military experience. I'll give him that. He was a soldier and an officer, and he has experience in that arena that Obama doesn't have. But to me, a good Commander-in-Chief should ultimately be a wise and diplomatic leader. Being a soldier, a captured and tortured one notwithstanding, is not a prerequisite.