Hi Tamar,

Fair points. Perhaps I worded my statement badly. I'm certain that Obama is a very bright man; I'll expand that to say that not one of our major party candidates in the history of the country could be considered dumb or even average.

But that's not a sole qualification: It's how you've used those brains in your run-up to the candidacy. I mean, how far do you have to look back in Presidential elections to find someone with less applicable executive experience? (Rumination pause here - lol)....

04 Kerry - Bush? Nope.
00 Bush - Gore? Nope.
96 Clinton - Dole? Nope.
92 Clinton - Bush - Perot? Perot, maybe, but "nope" when you look at his resume.
88 Bush - Dukakis? Nope.
84 Reagan - Mondale? Nope.
80 Reagan - Carter? Nope.
76 Ford - Carter? Nope.
72 Nixon - McGovern? Nope.
68 Humphrey - Nixon? Nope.

...I could go on and on but I challenge you to find a President least qualified on paper when nominated by his party. Mind you, this does not mean that Obama would be doomed to be a bad President but there's so little track record that it requires a leap of faith otherwise.


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>>>All that said, Obama has grown on me considerably through this campaign. I think his positive message is an important one that we need right now. I also, in general, favor meritocracy and want the president to be one of the smartest kids in the class
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>>And that's my main problem with Obama - he's all message and speeches. Anyone can give a positive speech but it doesn't mean a thing when the experience isn't there to enact that message. As for meritocracy, how has Obama proven that he's one of the smartest? I'm not saying that he may not be, but I'm wondering how - based on his actions and experience and NOT on his feelfood speaches - you cvome to that conclusion?
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>Fair question. How about his having come out of a single-parent family and earned his way to Harvard Law. It's not that hard to get into Harvard or Yale* when your father and your grandfather went there, but when you're a poor, mixed-race kid from Hawaii, not so much.
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>He then got chosen to edit the Law Review. Not an honor they give just anyone. You have to be smart and work hard.
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>I don't think there's a question about his intelligence.
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>Tamar
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>* Actually, today, it's hard for anyone to get in to Harvard and Yale. For this year's graduating class at Yale, the original acceptance rate was 9%. Given that almost all of the applicants were qualified, that's incredibly low. I suspect even alumni kids are having a tough time getting in today.