Organizing for America | Personable Longings: Experience? No, Competence!

Experience? No, Competence!

By The Kozmic Kid - Oct 29th, 2008 at 6:27 am EDT

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Does experience count? Yes, of course it does, but this election is not about experience. If the person in the race with the most "executive experience" is the governor of a state with a population about the size of Columbus, Ohio, you can be sure that experience is not the deciding factor.

John McCain knows this. That's why, at his convention, he stopped talking about experience and started talking about change. Of course, it's just like McCain that he can't stick with that message either, judging from the TV ads I've seen. Which tells us something about what really counts - competence.

We have a perfect opportunity to compare the leadership abilities of these two men by looking at how they've run their campaigns. They manage finance, personnel, strategy, and operations. They have budgets of millions and staffs of thousands. And who wins this comparison? It's not even close. Obama's campaign is efficient, disciplined, and focused, while McCain's is haphazard, reactive, and scattered.

When it gets to crunch time, it's Obama I want running things. That other guy scares me.

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Experience... | Report to Admin

By TG Oct 30th 2008 at 8:57 am EDT (Updated Oct 30th 2008 at 8:57 am EDT)

All you have to do is look to the campaigns to see what each man is capable of doing as a leader.

Barack Obama has stayed on message, raised incredible amounts of money, made phone calls before issuing statements during the bail out crisis, and has stayed on the high road. Talk to anyone in sales & marketing and they'll tell you the Obama campaign is the model for any company to market their business. In addition, Obama looked at his strengths and weaknesses, realized he needed to shore up his foreign policy game and selected Joe Biden to do just that.

John McCain has been all over the map. Stating the economy was strong, then hours later stating we're in a crisis. He suspended his campaign to fly back to DC right away, but only after a Katie Couric interview, dinner and a good night's sleep, then didn't suspend it. Said he wasn't going to debate,and then did. Said he'd take the high road, and took a wrong turn. Let's his running mate ramble about pal-ing around with terrorists and then claims Bill Ayers is a washed up one at that - but continues with the Robo Calls and ads. Rumors are circulating about dissension within the campaign. Real leaders prevent the dissension, or at least don't air their dirty laundry!

After admitting economics isn't his strong suit, does he select Mitt Romney or someone else with the skills and knowledge? Nope, he goes for the gun toting Barbie Doll. McCain's campaign is no longer about "Country First" it's about winning the election and "McCain First".

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By Sine in KS Oct 30th 2008 at 11:52 pm EDT (Updated Oct 30th 2008 at 11:52 pm EDT)

Kozmic Kid - Haven't talked to you in a while!

I love the word competence. Puts a new twist on experience vs judgment. You're right on with your analysis. By the way, our friend K, who's always been an Obama supporter, was pretty stuck on that experience argument too. Seeing that in the corporate world, you have to work your way up and collect experience, it didn't sit right with him that Obama never actually seemed to have done much, except write a few books (those are his words, not mine - I for one can appreciate the hard work writing a book would be, let alone all the other things Obama has done in his life - I think he just always moved on quickly because he was pushing himself for more, and I am glad he did!).

Anyway, K now agrees that the campaign O's run has been absolutely brilliant, no question. He now agrees that you can forget that old-fashioned concept of experience if someone has shown his mettle like Obama did with his campaign.

Re: love that word | Report to Admin

By The Kozmic Kid Oct 31st 2008 at 7:32 am EDT (Updated Oct 31st 2008 at 7:32 am EDT)

Experience is only valuable for what you get out of it. From what I've seen, some people get a lot out of every experience, and other people never learn. The diffrerence seems to be related to the degree to which one is inclined to question assumptions, analyze situations, and learn something. George Bush is an example of someone who operates from first principles and learns nothing that doesn't conform to what he already believes. Barack Obama is an example of someone who seems to squeeze every bit of learning out of every experience. One consequence is that he spends time with people who disagree with him. So if he has a conversation with a Muslim scholar to try to understand the Middle East from a Palestinian perspective, that's a good thing, right? Yet, that becomes a McCain talking point. Can you imagine George Bush breaking out of the bubble to understand a different point of view? The idea is laughable.
I used to think John McCain had that ability and inclination. But based on this campaign, I'm convinced that he's little better than Bush. And Palin is much worse.

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