Reply #42: Have you thought about other qualifications? [View All]

[democrattotheend]

I agree that Senator Clinton has a unique perspective on the presidency, having been First Lady, and that this would be valuable experience that serves her well as president.

At the same time, I think in the current Washington climate, too much experience might be as much of a negative as a positive. I am glad Obama decided to run now, before he became disconnected from ordinary people the way politicians inevitably do when they have been here too long. I live and work in Washington, DC, and I know enough about the culture here to know that if we want to get anything done, we need to change the culture and the way the government operates.

I also think that experience is one factor in terms of qualifications, but the presidency is such a unique job that nobody can be fully qualified for it until they've done it. Given the fact that so much of the details are done by staff, I honestly think experience in Washington is less important than temperament, judgment, and leadership capabilities.

One of the reasons the current president has been such a failure is his tendency to surround himself with people who agree with him and discourage dissenting opinion. When people from the intelligence community tried to tell him Iraq did not pose a grave threat, he did not want to hear it. He wanted the intelligence to match his objectives, rather than setting objectives based on the intelligence.

Obama, by contrast, goes out of his way to seek out dissenting opinion, wanting to hear and understand all sides of an argument before making a decision. I read an article recently by Cass Sunstein, a fellow law professor at the University of Chicago, that gave some good insight into how Obama would operate as commander in chief. I encourage you to read it before you go to the polls in November: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-oped0314obamamar14,0,7185898.story

Obama has also displayed the ability to broker compromises and get results, both in the Illinois senate and as a US senator. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303303.html

Finally, while many dismiss inspiration as fluff, the ability to inspire is an important quality for a president. A president needs to be able to sell his or her agenda to the American people and to Congress, and Obama's speaking abilities as well as his ability to see things from multiple perspectives and show empathy even when he disagrees makes him well-poised to be effective in this regard.

So I hope you will read the articles I linked to and consider my arguments before deciding not to vote for him because you don't think he is qualified.