Obama's Experience vs. Clinton's Experience

My decision had little to do with experience as well, but I thought I should put this together so that we had some facts to draw on and compare Hillary's experience to that of Barack's.

I hope the feminists realize how shallow it is to vote for a woman just because she is a woman. I mean if Condoleeza Rice were running would they force her down your throats too? I am white, does that mean I should vote for Hillary? I am a man does that mean I should vote for Barack? I really like this quote from Obama's book and think it is fitting:

That my father looked nothing like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk—barely registered in my mind.

Dreams of My Father

Great, thanks Vas. I hope you enjoyed the article and learned something too!

Of course you are correct Jedi and Hillary knows it. That is why after Barack won Iowa she switched her message to include change. Of course Change is always a popular campaign message, especially when there is an unpopular incumbent.

But, I wanted to put this together mostly for the older, more skeptical crowd. The folks who think that Obama is too green and unknown to trust. Well, look at what he has done compared to Hillary. He has worked hard for the people. He has helped the poor and helped reduce corruption. He has done a great many things that are worthy of respect.

I think that Hillary has done a lot too. But as a First Lady she did far less than a true legislator. She had three or four major policy goals while First Lady and she failed to accomplish her biggest one. She also has experience with huge corporations and a high powered firm in Little Rock, one that she started working for right after her husband became Governor. She went to work for a firm that did business for the State of Arkansas right after her husband became Governor. She then proceeded to work on the Corporate Boards of some of that same Firms biggest clients.

Yeah Barack might have ties to a bad guy who tried to buy influence but at least he was involved with that guy in real estate deals to provide affordable housing to poor people.

The experience is relevant, I just think that Baracks is more of the sort of experience that I would hope my President would have.

I have a feeling that he will lose. But I hope to be surprised.

I am glad I was wrong. Obama continues to bite into Hillary's base of support: Women and people whose income is under $50k. Clearly Edwards' campaign hindered Obama's more than Clinton's.

Hillary is going to stay in this thing until August, I am sure of it. The Clintons are so pissed off because some young Senator decided to run when it was her "turn". She passed up a run for Governor in the 80's and I believe that ever since then the Clintons have been scheming about how to get her to the Presidency. Their 8 year plan is crumbling beneath them and they will do everything in their power to stop that from happening. The question now is, "How negative will she go?"

Yes indeed, and Hopefully he will win Hawaii Big! I only know two people who live there but they are voting for Obama!

I think that Carter was unsuccessful for two reasons: (1) he oversaw one of the worst economic periods in US History; (2) he was a party outsider who never earned the respect or trust of party insiders.

Presidents have little control over the economy. The American public is not willing to accept the fact that the market is cyclical and every 15-30 years there is a recession that strips away inefficiencies in the market and only allows strong companies and industries to prevail. This is healthy.

Clinton was also a change candidate who inherited a less dangerous economic situation in his first term. I say it was less dangerous because inflation was very low compared to Carter who had to deal with some of the worst inflation in US History (largely a result of increased oil prices).

I think that our Economy will start to pick up at the end of this year or beginning of next year regardless of economic policy. Debt and Credit fears will be behind us and the market will start an upswing. Obama or Clinton will get credit for turning around the economy.

Carter entered office after one of the worst recessions and ushered one in during his reelection bid in 1980. Clinton got lucky because the recession was over by the time he entered office. I think that might be a similar situation for the next president. Even if it carries over there is always Bush to blame (See Regan).

Carter didn't only have the economic problems, however, he also had serious political problems. He battled with Congress throughout his Presidency. His campaign did not embrace and was not embraced by any of the mainstream party leaders. This is not true for Obama. Now that he has gained some momentum party leaders have been voicing their support for him.

Carter also did not do a good job coordinating with party leaders in Congress. His agenda was not taken up by Congress because he had burned bridges during his run for President. Obama is highly respected in the party. Many party leaders didn't want Obama to run, they thought that he would serve as a good VP perhaps, but they don't dislike him or have animosity towards him for using his message of Change.

Bush used a Change message, as did Bill Clinton. I think that Bush was very successful in getting his agenda passed. Clinton was able to be successful because he was so moderate. He adopted much of the Republican agenda: Cut Spending, definine marriage as between a man and a woman, and eliminate "welfare queens". That is how he was able to be effective.

The fact that Carter was challenged in his reelection run proves that he was not favored by Party leaders. His unpopularity and inability to work with Congress is part of his unsuccessful bid for a second term. Additionally he was unable to deal with a recession and inflation. Clinton oversaw one of the greatest upswings in US Economic History (though inflation was low).

Interestingly enough I think that Obama will be entering a situation similar to both Carter and Clinton. Inflation is not as bad as it was in the 70s but we are going to be in a recession or just out of one. Clinton was able to lead the American public to believe that he had defeated the recession despite the fact that it was over before he entered office. He then oversaw one of the largest booms in our economic history. That led to his huge popularity, despite the fact that he had little to do with this.

Democrats in Congress will rally around Obama because he, like Bill, is very pragmatic when it comes to his agenda. He is willing to bend in order to get legislation that he thinks is important passed. He works with both sides of the aisle without sacrificing his ideals.

Thanks Hamid. I agree that Hillary's slogan is misleading in and of itself. That is why I did this, so that people could see the facts about who did what and whose experience is more impressive and noble.

Please distribute the facts. I am all for the dissemination of information.

Generally Wikipedia is correct. If you can find false information in my article please point it out so that I can correct it. I don't have the time that a full-time reporter might so I draw from sources that are easy to obtain. I made sure to include only information that had credible sources endnoted on Wikipedia. So, if you find something to be factually inaccurate please let me know and I will investigate and correct it if necessary.

Certainly I am biased, I never claimed to be unbiased and no one really is. I have a horse in this race just like many others on the Vine. If you think that my article is bad for using Wikipedia, why don't you check out a Clinton supporters article about how Obama didn't give a speech on 10/2/2002 against a potential War in Iraq. This entire article uses Wikipedia to bolster his argument, go lash out at him too please if you think that Wikipedia is not a credible source, or if you think that the premise of that article is ridiculous.

I'm glad it continues to interest people and be of some importance. McCain is a phony. One day he is a moderate, the next day he is beating the GOP war drum. What happened to the Maverick everyone asks? He was put in his place by the GOP leadership.

Well, I don't know if Obama has MORE experience than Clinton. Clinton had served a couple of terms as Governor as well as at least one term as the Attorney General of Arkansas I believe. Their experiences are different, but both types are relevant. Obama worked in one of the most broken governments in this country and was actually able to accomplish some important agenda items, even when the Republicans were in power.

Most importantly, Obama gets no credit for being a legislator for a dozen years. Is that or isn't that experience?