It's interesting to me that the dynamics of what qualifies as experience for our Republican friends are so much different now. In 2000 the Republicans embraced a man who had 'run' a baseball team and had been a governor for 5 years. A man who had hardly been out of the country. Somehow that made him qualified to be president.The people who talk about qualifications, like they're on the interview committee for a senior position at the plant, miss the point. It's not how we vote. (For good or bad). If we did, George Bush (the first) would have beaten Clinton and Al Gore would have beaten George Bush (oh wait, he did. sigh.)On the Republican side, I hope McCain beats Romney. I like McCain's stand on immigration, for one, and his recent pandering to the religious right pales in comparison to Romney's complete upside down conversion from his actions as Massachuset's governer.Obama has demonstrated his ability to invigorate an otherwise apathetic electorate. He has laid out policy goals that I have no problem supporting. He promises change within what statasticians wouuld identify as normal, unlike, say Denis Kucinich or Ron Paul who are entertaining, but outside the bell curve.
It seems to me that Obama really is "America." White mother, Black, African, father. Briefly raised in a predominantly Muslim country. He has to understand our diversity. And consequently he isn't going to fear it as others do.Obama may inspire crowds all day long, but if he can't get legislation through Congress, his impact will be modest. It wasn't Caroline Kennedy's dad who got the Civil Rights Act through Congress, it was Lyndon Johnson, the former Senate Majority Leader. Between now and November I want to find out who Obama's Rumsfeld and Cheney will be.
