As an Obama supporter I freely admit that there is an "experience deficit"

[Perky]

Now understand that I am not measuring the drape yet but as a general elction strategy I think he has to do so something unique to countse McCain's (cough cough) 5 decades (cough cough) of public service.

Now I understand that naming key appointees does not typically occur at the convention but in Obama's cas itmight be a gambit that pays off handsomely.

I submit the following expanded ticket

Bob Graham for vice President Former Chair of Senate Intelligence. Moderate. Great speaker and they love himin Florida.

Bill Richardson For Secrtary of state. I was og the view that he would mkate the best VP based on his resume. ANd he could bring out Hispanic votes. I have soured on him as a VP though becuase he is not an attack dod. I found him unispiring in the debates and I am not sure how great a campaigner he is. The knock on him is thathe was at best asleep at the switch while energy secretary. His foriegn policy experiencs trumps that if he has the the job at Foggy Bottom

Janet Napolitano for Attorney General (and a stepping stone for SCOTUS) Governor of Arizona well liked and puts Arizona in play against McCain.

John Edwards Special Counsel to the President for Domestic Policy. He needs a platform and deserves access. HHS and Labor would simply pidgeonhole him andhe has no record at leading larger bureaucracies.

I would not name anyone beyond those four or five. because the other Cabinet positions, while policy focuses are largely technocratic as opposed to philosophical.

[babylonsister]

1. As an Obama supporter, there is no lack of experience.

And I don't get your post. Lack of experience compared to who? ****??? Cheney? *****

[depakid]

4. Surely you're kidding

If he gets the nomination, he's going to be just HAMMERED with that, day in and day out. And it's a valid point- he does lack experience, and doesn't have any comperable list of accomplishments.

While it's doubtful the OP's strategy would be acceptible, the campaign had damn well better have something substantial up their sleeve to deal with the issue, because otherwise it won't even be close come November.

[babylonsister]

10. Read this. I think the man knows what he's doing, and has known for

a long time. If you do read it, please let me know what you think.

http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2006/10/barack_obama.html

[K Gardner]

17. This is a FANTASTIC article.. why didn't that dipwad on Hardball read it? Oh well, I'm bookmarking..

thanks for providing this, BabS ! :hug:

[babylonsister]

23. It's old, when Obama was a jr. senator but still tried to get things done.

It was written before anyone knew about Obama, which makes it the more precious to me.

[JimGinPA]

22. Very Interesting Read - Thanks For That nt

[Kokonoe]

27. Thanks again, good story

:hi:

[Perky]

5. Sorry. It it really more antcipatoryof GOP attacks than it is is substantive deficit.

And wuite honestly I am not syure the experince card can be played effectively this cycle.


Iam also looking for ways to run up the elecotral vote count....

[Blue State Bandit]

2. Well thought out.

I like that line up.

[sjdnb]

3. Even with them in toe, we lose ...

with JE suspending, Gore not getting in, and only the 'party players' left to choose from ... everyone knows, it's basically four more years of the same old sh*t. Real "change" won't happen until REAL CHANGE candidates (not those just handed booby-prize positions) stand a chance to make decisions and hold real power.

[casus belli]

6. His lack of tenure in the political arena is a plus in my book...

I mean, a lot of campaigns have stressed change as a platform throughout the years. But, ultimately, it's hard to take someone seriously who has a long history in the process when they say they want to change it. This "weakness" that other politicians have been trying to exploit of his, is actually a strength which they solidify every time they cite his lack of experience.

[Perky]

7. I don't disagree....but he will need to surround himself with seasoned veterans

[casus belli]

8. I completely agree....

and I wouldn't perceive that as renegging on his promise of change. It will take some who know the system to change it. But, in order to run a campaign on change - the important part is people believing that the candidate really wants change and is capable of delivering it.

[Hutzpa]

25. Knock.....knock......excuse me

but, but if he is for change.....why would he appoint seasoned veterans, these seasoned veteran
as you so nicely put it, have been in power/position for decades, look what that has brought us.....
IWR, Economy, Health Care, Education, Employment and World status, nil to zero.

So, Sir/Ma'am, I completely disagree with you on this point based on the list above.

Now, indulge me.........


:tv:

[grantcart]

9. Ok I'll bite just exactly what was John F. Kennedy's great success in the Senate

before he became one of our greatest presidents? Nothing.

[Hippo_Tron]

15. And Herbert Hoover accomplished a lot before he was elected President

Too bad he didn't do that when he was in office.

[ShortnFiery]

11. "Bob Graham for Vice President" ---> Yes, I like that! eom.

[Kokonoe]

12. I don't know Janet, but I think she would be highly divisive

She seems like another Janet that was also appointed by Bill. Is connected to Anita Hill. Eked out her election by less than 50% and broke the record on vetoes. Sounds like more of the same to me. Why not just Janet Reno.
John Edwards would seem the AG, He certainly has experience dealing with complex corporate issues.

[Perky]

16. Former US Attorney..A woman, Former AG of AZ, Popular Governor of Mcain's home state

Political career
In 1991, while a partner with the private Phoenix law firm Lewis and Roca LLP, Napolitano served as attorney for Anita Hill. Anita Hill testified in the U.S. Senate that then U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had addressed her inappropriately ten years earlier when she was his subordinate at the federal EEOC.

In 1993, Napolitano was appointed by President Bill Clinton as United States attorney for the District of Arizona. As U.S. attorney, she was involved in the investigation of Michael Fortier of Kingman, Arizona, in connection to the Oklahoma City bombing. She ran for and won the position of state attorney general in 1998. Her tenure focused on consumer protection issues and improving general law enforcement.

She won the gubernatorial election of 2002 with 46 percent of the vote, succeeding Republican Jane Dee Hull and defeating her Republican opponent, former congressman Matt Salmon, who received 45 percent of the vote. Napolitano was the first female US governor to succeed another. Some initially considered Napolitano to be a possible running mate for presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 U.S. presidential election but Sen. John Edwards was selected instead.

In November 2006, Napolitano won the gubernatorial election of 2006, defeating the Republican challenger, Len Munsil, by a nearly 2-1 ratio.

She is currently a member of the Democratic Governors Association Executive Committee. Furthermore, she has also served previously as Chair of the Western Governors Association, and the National Governors Association. She served as NGA Chair from 2006 to 2007, and was the first female governor and first governor of Arizona ever to serve in that position.

On January 11, 2008, Napolitano endorsed Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for President.

In the 2010 Elections, Napolitano is term-limited, so some say she is considering challenging John McCain for his U.S. Senate seat or running for the open seat should McCain retire or be elected President in 2008. She has also been seen as a possible Vice-Presidential candidate for 2008.<4>


Administration policies
Napolitano advocates education and immigration reform. As a Democratic governor, Napolitano sought funding for the public education system, health care programs, teachers pay, state government workers pay, and prison employees pay.<5> She signed legislation that offered voluntary full day kindergarten throughout Arizona.<5> Napolitano opened the nation’s first state counter-terrorism center, signed legislation for a prescription drug card for seniors<6> and signed into law property and income tax cuts, which were proposed by the Republican legislature.<5>

In her first year as governor, the state's budget improved from a billion-dollar deficit in the year after the September 11, 2001 attacks to a billion-dollar surplus, without a tax increase.<6> Every budget Napolitano has signed has been balanced. However, the projected 2008 budget has a deficit of $1 billion.<7>

Napolitano received a low grade from the Cato Institute for fiscal spending, citing the fact that her budgets annually increased spending by an average of 6% over the previous year's total.<5> Napolitano's position on budget issues has been to defend education spending as "investing in what matters", citing the benefits of academic achievement and economic growth. Faced with a conservative Republican majority in both houses of the Arizona Legislature, she issued her 115th veto on June 6, 2006, breaking the record previously held by former Governor Bruce Babbitt. By the end of June 2006 her veto total had grown to 127 vetoes.<8>

Napolitano has been named one of the five best governors in the nation by TIME and is a noted national leader on immigration policy. In a Washington Post op-ed, she explained her belief that the topic of illegal immigration was urgent and needed to be solved through comprehensive federal reform.<9> In another op-ed in the Arizona Republic Napolitano was critical of sections of the federal proposal debated at that time, saying that, "As a border state governor and a former attorney general and United States attorney, I can already spot issues that make key provisions of the compromise impracticable and ineffective."<10> She was the first governor to call for the US National Guard to be placed at the U.S.-Mexico border at federal expense and succeed. In July 2007, she signed state legislation designed to penalize employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Previously, when Arizona's voters passed Proposition 200, which would not allow illegal immigrants to collect welfare benefits, Napolitano opposed the measure.

[Kokonoe]

26. I'm sure she is qualified. In a heated pundent atmosphere she will only

get unfair superficial consideration,and will not bolster the appearance of experience.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

13. No, it's not 5 decades of experience that McCain has, it's HALF A CENTURY! nt

[Perky]

18. Damn I m issed another Talking Point???? I will call Dave Axelrod in the morining to complain.

[babylonsister]

20. Ha! He's fucking old! nt

[Perky]

29. yes he is!!!!

[Hippo_Tron]

14. There is NO correlation between experience and being a good president

None, whatosever. If someone can statistically prove said correlation then I'd certainly like to see it.

So frankly I don't think experience should be a factor in "balancing the ticket". I think Obama should pick the person that he thinks is best suited to step up if something were to happen to him.

[K Gardner]

19. Don't agree with "deficit", but agree with Perky's Cabinet so far ! Good people, all :-)

[Cogito ergo doleo]

21. Time Magazine doesn't agree.

TIME MAGAZINE - Jan. 16, 2008

Obama's Varied Record

"Obama's accomplishments are more substantial and varied than Clinton suggests. And he has a longer record in elected office than she does, as a second-term New York senator.

Obama was a community organizer and led a voter-registration effort in Chicago that added tens of thousands of people to the rolls. He was a civil rights attorney and taught at one of the nation's premier universities. He helped pass complicated measures in the Illinois legislature on the death penalty, racial profiling, health care and more. In Washington, he has worked with Republicans on nuclear proliferation, government waste and global warming, amassing a record that speaks to a fast start while lacking the heft of years of service."

//snip/

He teamed with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., to study the dangers of nuclear proliferation and pass legislation meant to keep nuclear material from falling into the hands of terrorists.

Obama also joined with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., after Hurricane Katrina to improve oversight of federal spending.

More: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1704117,00.html

[backscatter712]

24. Obama has more experience than Clinton.

Everybody dismisses Obama's experience in the Illinois legislature to be "Mickey Mouse" work, but that's just plain not true. He accomplished quite a bit there, including working to fight the death penalty there.

[cooolandrew]

28. He needs to run a woman vp he really does. Sebeliusfor vp I say or nancy even.

[dysfunctional press]

31. why does he "really" need to run a woman vp?

:shrug:

and surely you don't mean nancy pelosi? :wow:

[dysfunctional press]

30. i like john edwards for AG.

but he definitely needs a major role.