This little blurb would be amusing if it didn’t have such potential to impact all of us so heavily.
Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sparred over who has the most experience to be president on Monday as a new poll showed Obama narrowly leading in the crucial kick-off state of Iowa. …
As Americans prepared to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, Clinton used a campaign speech in Knoxville, Iowa, to try to set herself apart from Obama and Edwards.
Without mentioning the other Democrats by name, Clinton suggested he rivals lacked the experience to take on America’s economic challenges, saying “we can’t afford on-the-job training for our next president.”
“We need a president who understands the magnitude and complexity of the challenges we face, and has the strength and experience to address them from Day One,” she said.
Obama dismissed Clinton’s comments and questioned Clinton’s experience. She was first lady when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president in the 1990s, and has been a New York senator for nearly seven years.
“I am happy to compare my experiences to hers when it comes to the economy. My understanding is that she wasn’t treasury secretary in the Clinton administration,” Obama said. “I don’t know exactly what experiences she’s claiming.”
To be 100% honest, Obama has a point; neither of them has any real experience that would make them suitable for the job of President.
However, there’s absolutely no doubt that Hillary has more experience than Obama in the political arena. As I noted here and here, Obama spent a few years in the Illinois legislature and then two more years in the Senate. Other than that, he appears to have made it through law school.
Hillary on the other hand has handled countless scandals (bimbo eruptions, Whitewater, and travel-gate to name just a few), she has taken part in numerous shady financial deals (can you say ‘cattle futures’?), she has single-handedly led & completely botched the Hillary-care debacle in the early ’90s, she has taken up the questionable funding from communist Chinese that Bill so loved (who’s that Hsu guy again?), she has mastered the art of political double-speak, and appears to have the media’s nether regions firmly in her grasp — one wrong word and SQUEEZE!!! (Wolf Blitzer being only the latest example of this).
Compared to Hillary’s knowledge of gaming the system, Obama is still a kid in short-pants. A few years in the Senate and only one potential real estate scandal under his belt hardly qualifies him to challenge Hillary’s ample experience.
Finally someone gets it. Hillary has already been in the white house, so she knows how to run things when she’s there again. Everyone else is just looking for fame and power.
A few weeks ago The Coconino County Dems hosted a ”Mock Convention”. About 180 rank and file dems showed up some from Navajo and Yavapai Counties as well. The make up of the crowd reflected pretty much the demographic of the state.
The interesting thing was that Obama won with Richardson coming in second and Clinton in third. If you consider this as a straw poll, Clinton is in trouble and Obama may pull off a win here, come super Tuesday.