squashed:

I’ve never understood exactly what sort of “experience” people mean when they claim somebody has the “experience” to be President.  If you’re hiring a teacher, an experienced candidate would be one that has been a teacher before.  But none of the candidates have been President before.  Clinton had 35 years of “experience” that seemed to include everything she did after law school.  With Bill in the Whitehouse, she probably did get an “experience,” but I’m unclear what part of it would have qualified her.  McCain has been a Senator for a very long time.  He has had some experience too.  But being one member of a deliberative legislative body doesn’t necessarily offer executive experience.  McCain has a lot of “experience” of a lot of different things—but so does anybody his age.  Then there’s Obama.  He also has an impressive set of experiences.  These should give him a valuable perspective on governance.  He’s shattered records on the campaign, but like the others, he’s never been President.  None have been President before.  None have done anything close.  They may have experience as politicians or as campaigners—but that’s a pretty dubious qualification.

Then there’s Sarah Palin.  She’s a relative rookie on the political scene.  She’s getting relatively close to two full years of successfully governing a state blessed with nearly infinite oil money.  This isn’t nearly enough “experience” to qualify her for the VP spot—but once again, I’m not certain what sort of experience would qualify her.  I prefer a capable candidate than an experienced one.  Who has the background and the ability to do the job best?  Who could do it competently?  Whose election would be a major risk?

So the question on Palin is not whether she is experienced but whether she can handle a national level of leadership.  McCain, Obama, and Biden have all shown that they can at least run a national campaign and spend countless hours in the national spotlight without melting down.  The jury is still out on Palin.  I’m inclined to wait a week or so to see how she handles the increased attention before making sweeping pronouncements.