Perspective On Obama’s Experience
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Elections, General Politics
He’d have about as much as Abe Lincoln did…and maybe that’s a good thing.
Abraham Lincoln’s sole governmental experience was eight years in the Illinois House and just two years in Congress, yet he was one of our greatest presidents. Besides, more “experience” wallowing through the disgusting cesspool that is Washington may only hurt Obama, not help him.According to Tom Schwartz, the Illinois state historian, 19th century voters didn’t view politics as a profession, so they didn’t expect presidential candidates like Lincoln to have extensive political experience. The issue never came up in the 1860 campaign, Schwartz said. [...]
”What Lincoln brought to the presidency, which was very much needed at the time . . . [was] a very fine ear for listening to the public’s concerns and then being able to articulate responses that created consensus that was able to move the country forward in positive ways,” Schwartz said. Schwartz then said that he saw a direct comparison to Obama’s calls for unity and the way Obama had sparked so much interest from people who normally don’t care for politics.
Listen, unity is always a good notion, but it’s not good in and of itself. However, after the hardcore partisan hackery of the past decade…maybe it’s time for somebody who has basically been removed from that political reality. That sure ain’t Hillary, and maybe that’s why she should be so concerned about Obama. He represents the future. She represents the past. And that could very well be THE most important thing in 2008.
We shall see…
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 9th, 2006 and is filed under Elections, General Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 10th, 2006 at 11:59 pm
I’m not sure that comparing 2008 to 1860 is really a worthwhile exercise. That said, lack of experience can be overcome by a wise mind. I’m still more than willing to give the man a chance to woo me should he run.
December 12th, 2006 at 11:42 am
Yes and how much experience did Arnold Schwarzenegger have before taking over our most populous state? A state, that has the 7th or 8th largest GDP in the world (bigger than Italy). Obama’s lack of experience shouldn’t keep him from the job.
Unfortunately, my cynical mind tells me that his skin color is going to play a bigger role in his election than it should. The fact that Cosmo Kramer (a.k.a. Michael Richards) can scream racial epithets on stage in “liberal” California tells me that race relations still have a long way to go in this country.