In a later post I hope to do some justice to the singular political phenomenon that is Sen. Barack Obama. Suffice it to say for the moment that I've been a bit of a skeptic in the past, but I may be starting to reconsider. His Achilles' heel is quite clearly his inexperience- in the general election a Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani could really go to town on his lack of executive-level credentials.
If Obama does emerge victorious from the primaries, he may need to find his own Dick Cheney to win the general election. That would be the Dick Cheney of 2000, the experienced, steadying hand on young W's shoulder, not the power-drunk ogre we've subsequently come to know and despise. For the equivalent sort of influence, Obama could do far, far worse than Sam Nunn. Frankly, he could do no better.
1 comment:
I once held your view that political experience was a prerequisite for running for elite levels of office. Upon further consideration I've begun to disagree. Kerry was trashed for having 'flip-flopped'. Bush 'won' in 2000 with no national experience in his background. The Governator won two California state elections on star appeal alone. The tide may have turned to the point where having a track-record and having made any decision in the past can be manipulated and twisted to condemn you to eating all the ketchup you can have, making Oscar-winners or looking back on your mediocre porno career. I see Obama's inexperience as a positive much more than a negative. He will have to, much like Bush did, surround himself with experienced, though hopefully not evil, advisers and VP candidate.
-Andrés
Post a Comment