Presidential Experience

When you apply for a job, what is one of the most important qualities you can bring to the table? Experience. Sure, a college degree is great. But the one thing that can most quickly put you over the edge of the competition is experience. Anyone has been there before. I know for myself, it was very difficult to land my first job out of college, because the jobs I was interviewing for wanted somebody with experience in the field. But how do you get that experience? At some point, someone is going to have to take a chance on you, which is what happened for me.

Why am I talking about this? Well, during this Presidential campaign, a lot of talk has gone around about Barack Obama and experience. He's too young. He hasn't been a U.S. Senator for long enough. He doesn't have executive experience. But my grandmother brought up a very interesting point when I talked to her about this. She said that when you're talking about the Presidency, NOBODY has enough experience. And after thinking about it, I say she is right. How can any one man or woman possibly have the kind of experience, knowledge, and qualifications to be fully prepared for a job as the President? Whatever job you held immediately prior to taking the office of the Presidency, it couldn't possibly have fully prepared you for your responsibilities of your new job. Now, that isn't to say that experience doesn't make a difference whatsoever, but we can't judge a candidate's ability to be President simply based on his lack of experience. Again, I say this only because nobody has the experience and qualifications to take on that job. Whoever wins next week will be responsible for 300 million people's lives, jobs, health, and overall prosperity. Needless to say, our current President has been a failure in all of those arenas, and he had eight years of executive experience prior to taking office.

What I'm trying to say is that I look at a Presidential candidate like I look at someone interviewing for any job. Sure, you would like a candidate with high qualifications and experience, but you also need somebody who you can trust to do the best they possibly can to get the job done. And sometimes, just like when you hire that person going for their first job out of college, you have to take a chance. Me? I'll be taking my chances on Barack Obama. In my opinion, his lack of political experience is an asset to this election. He is a fresh face to a failing institution. We have had leadership problems from Washington for far too long now. The Presidency is in need of a dramatic shift in the way it handles business, and Obama represents the best hope for that change.