I find it interesting that Edwards and Clinton, in last night's New Hampshire debates, are so interested in drawing the difference between change and experience -- in particular, with Clinton's assertion that her as-yet-uncontested claim of "35 years of experience" makes her the most qualified candidate in the field.
But the top three Dem candidates actually have very similar resumes, despite Clinton's familiarity with the White House from having lived in it. All three are lawyers who have folded activism in some form into their legal careers. If you're looking at their careers as elected officials, Obama actually has the edge, having spent a decade in either the U.S. Senate or the Illinois legislature, whereas Clinton is on her seventh year as a U.S. Senator (with no prior eleced office) and Edwards served one six-year term.
Obviously, the media, and even the candidates to a certain degree, find simple storylines to be easier to manage in drawing distinctions -- particularly when the real distinctions in this election have to do with vision. Edwards's vision is fighting corporations, Clinton's vision is built around the notion of doing hard work, and Obama's vision is around a new era of collaboration that brings American people back into the process and attempts to rise above the partisanship that neither Edwards nor Clinton have proven themselves to have been able to dismantle.
Indeed, Clinton's rise to the nomination would trigger a new, emboldened wave of partisanship that would derail any initiatives she might want to advance as President. Think back to the "experience" she accumulated while trying to put forth a health care plan in the '90s, and you'll have an idea of what change under a Clinton presidency would look like. With experience being relatively similar among the three candidates, the real question for me is, "Who can inspire Americans to work together at a time in which we need to right the wrongs of the Bush administration?" For me, Obama is the clear and resounding answer.
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