All About McCain

[Alex]

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

Biden would be wise to lay off discussing experience or qualifications.......Palin has more executive experience(and the office of President is an executive position) then Biden, McCain, and Obama combined

What I've found most interesting about this line of argument that has solidied in the last couple of days is that everybody is trying so hard to sell it that if bought into one must inevitably come to the conclusion that Palin is the most qualified presidential candidate on ticket. To that I ask, if rather than being selected for VP she had actually tried to campaign for president, would a single Republican anywhere in the country have bought the idea that her mayorship and 18 months as governor were great qualifications?

Now, I am fine with her qualifications because I don't think there is any such thing when it comes to being president; and generally the definition of suitable experience changes from person-to-person to magically align with whatever candidate they are currently supporting. I just think the facility with which Republicans are (on average) buying this line is a particularly amazing example of the art.

Sorry to quote a Democrat but I think Michael Kinsley said it well yesterday (and I apply this to both sides):

The whole "experience" debate is silly. Under our system of government, there is only one job that gives you both executive and foreign-policy experience, and that's the one McCain and Obama are running for. Nevertheless, it's a hardy perennial: If your opponent is a governor, you accuse him or her of lacking foreign-policy experience. If he or she is a member of Congress, you say this person has never run anything. And if, by any chance, your opponent has done both, you say that he or she is a "professional politician."