flynn23 wrote:
I'll disagree here. Obama's CV looks more expensive but not necessarily more relevant.

If your position is that a deep understanding of the laws and constitution of our country are not a relevant thing for a President to have, I do think we'll have to disagree.

And the closest comparables in public service are governor and mayor.

I don't disagree in general. I also don't think being mayor of a town of 5,000 people provides anything approximating the experience of being President. Being a Mayor or a Governor can be useful, but they are not themselves sufficient to demonstrate that you're qualified to be President, particularly when the town is so small and you've only been governor for two years. Again, there is nothing to indicate that Palin understands this country's Constitution, its complicated problems, and its foreign relationships. A couple years in a governors office is not a substitute for knowing what you are talking about, and someone who does not know what they are talking about cannot make the right decisions. Hell, a month ago she told Kudlow "As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?"

The internet says that 25 of America's 43 Presidents have been lawyers. 17 were governors and only 3 were mayors.

Being a lawyer does not compare. Being a lawyer is all about persuasion. Even as a constitutional prof and editor of a research publication, your job doesn't even come close to what it means to work with those kinds of dynamics. It means you read a lot, think a lot, and have to speak with persuasive authority. It doesn't mean you get shit done.

I think being a President is all about persuasion. You persuade the country to elect you, you persuade Congress to get behind your policy packages, you persuade other countries to take our interests seriously, and ultimately, you persuade the American people to follow you, whether its to victory in war time or greater aspirations in peace time. There is a reason that charismatic people like Reagan and Clinton have ended up being president and its not strictly a measure of their executive experience.

However, I don't think your skills of persuasion are the most important matter. I think your ability to make the right decisions is the most important matter. That is a factor of your understanding of the problems and your attitudes about addressing them. There simply is nothing about Palin's record that suggests that she has a deep understanding of our problems.

RE: The election is basically over.