Experience matters as explained by Senator Obama
Anderson Cooper asked Barack Obama last night to answer the claim that Sarah Palin has more applicable experience than he does. In response, he completely ignores Palin’s status as governor, and then makes the claim that a campaign counts as executive experience:
AC: Some Republican critics say, you don’t have the experience to handle a situation like this [Hurricane Gustav]. They’ve in fact said that Governor Palin has more executive experience as mayor of a small town and as governor of a big state like Alaska. What’s your response?
BO: Well, you know, my understanding is that, uh, Governor Palin’s town of Wasilly [sic] has, uh, 50 employees, uh, uh, we’ve got 2500, uh, in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. Uh, uh, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. Uh, so I think that, uh, our ability to manage large systems, uh, and to, uh, execute, uh, I think has been made clear over the last couple of years. Uh, and certainly, in terms of, uh, the legislation that I’ve passed just dealing with this issue post-Katrina, uh, of how we handle emergency management. The fact that, uh, many of my recommendations were adopted and are being put in place, uh, as we speak indicates to extent to which we can provide the kinds of support and good service that the American people expect.
Again, both Senator McCain and Gov. Palin have actual executive experience. Commanding a squadron, leading men in a POW camp, running a town, and running the largest state in the Union all require an individual to make tough decisions. You can’t vote “present” and you can’t say that the issue is “above my pay grade”. You have to make a call.
So, for the record, you’re saying building from nothing to a 2,500 employee, 200+ Million dollar budget organization and running it well enough to defeat its biggest competitor does not count as executive experience?
Why? Because it’s the wrong kind of organization? Businesses count, Elizabth Dole’s Red Cross work counts, Government executive jobs count, but campaigns don’t? They don’t have to make payroll, build lines of communications, handle logistics, meet deadlines? They don’t have to test their strategies in the political marketplace?
Or does it not ocunt because Obama has run it badly? Because the definition of a badly-run capaign usually includes, well, losing.
I guess the most charitable read would be that he hasn’t been doing it long enough. It wasn’t 2,500 employees at the start. But that goes back to having built it from scratch. And of course he’s been running his campaign since Feb. 10, 2007 – the day he announced (in all reality earlier of course, but let’s be generous).
Palin has been governor since December 4, 2006 — a big eight weeks earlier.
In an interview on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night, Obama was asked about whether his experience in the U.S. Senate dealing with weather-related situations compares to Palin’s executive experience running the state of Alaska and as the small town mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
“My understanding is that Gov. Palin’s town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We’ve got 2500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe 12 million dollars a year – we have a budget of about three times that just for the month,†Obama responded
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/01/obama-defends-natural-disaster-experience/
Uhhh Senator Obama, you have been campaigning for the last two years, so you might have missed the fact that Governor Palin as been…well governor of Alaska for the past two years and not the mayor of a small town.
Did you also notice how Obama dodged Anderson Cooper’s soft ball about handling weather issues in the Senate–that is because I doubt Barack Obama handled much weather issues in the Senate since he has been on the road for two years.
Alaska has a state budget of about 8.5 billion. I suspect the State of Alaska has more employees than Barack Obama’s campaign. But perhaps you could ask Sarah Palin a question about oil and natural gas development while you are at it.
so basically any candidate who wins the election is ipso facto qualified to be President according to Muskrat.
LOL
Muskrat: My point is that Gov. Palin has more experience than Senator Obama and that is clear when you look at the experience he is citing compared to her actual experience. The Senator’s attempt to distinguish his experience from her experience fails miserably. PG
Muskrat: Alaska’s operating budget is over $1 billion and its government employs around 15,000. And running a state government is executive experience that is most analogous to the duties of president (certainly more analogous than running a campaign). But it is telling that Obama must labor to prove that his experience is equal to or greater than the bottom of the Republican ticket.
The point is that the GOP thinks they can belittle Obama enough to make Palin appear competent. Good luck on that.
BTW, careful readers will note that he refered to her as “Governor Palin.” That even manages to appear in the childish reproduction you have placed above. That is not “completely ignor[ing] Palin’s status as governor.”
Ahhhh, one of my favorite things about campaign season is these meaty debates on the real issues: who has more experience, whose daughter is knocked up, etc.
They don’t have to make payroll, build lines of communications, handle logistics, meet deadlines?
Um, forgive my ignorance regarding campaigns, but doesn’t the candidate generally hire a campaign manager to do all of that?
The most important thing to focus on, though, is how hard Obama has to try to prove he has as much experience as the BOTTOM of the GOP ticket.
I don’t think a candidate has ever had to resort to claiming that running their campaign is relevant experience before.
M. Z. Forrest–I think you have it backwards. Obama is forced to belittle Palin’s experience (focusing on the budget/payroll when she was a mayor rather than her current budget/payroll as Governor) in order to make his lack of experience less obvious. Every time he or one of his supporters pursues this line of argument, Obama appears smaller.
“…The fact that, uh, many of my recommendations were adopted and are being put in place, uh, as we speak indicates (the) extent to which we can provide the kinds of support and good service that the American people expect.”
What recommendations were those? Where were these recommendations adopted (as he was speaking) and how are they being put into place? For the Dems, any response from Obama is a response, even if it makes absolutely no coherent sense whatsoever.
What support and service is he referring to that the American people expect? Sounds like he’s opening a fast-food resturant rather than running or President of the United States.
Surely I’m not alone in thinking that, off the teleprompters, this candidate is his own worst enemy.
Plugs Biden vs. Governor Palin, the beat goes on.
“I don’t know if you realize this but Sarah Palin got more votes running for mayor in Wasilla Alaska than Joe Biden did in [his] quest for the presidency…â€
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/02/fred-thompson-the-lefts-smears-of-palin-prove-that-theyre-panicking/
Palin got 909 votes for mayor the last time she ran. Biden dropped out after Iowa, where no raw vote totals are announced, but he did get over 2,000 county/state-level delegates — netting him zero state/national delegates.
Of course, if you can swallow Moose Poop like “She was fully vetted,” then “909 is more than 2000″ is easy.
[...] Southern Appeal » Experience matters as explained by Senator Obama [...]
# M.Z. Forrest Says:
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:07 am
…
BTW, careful readers will note that he refered to her as “Governor Palin.†That even manages to appear in the childish reproduction you have placed above. That is not “completely ignor[ing] Palin’s status as governor.â€
No, it’s not completely ignoring her status as governor, but it seems he thinks she is governor of a town. And that makes him look like an idiot. Kind of goes along with the 57 states in the Union comment. He doesn’t seem to know basic facts one learns in civics class. From a man who has presidential ambitions since he was 5.
[...] Southern Appeal » Experience matters as explained by Senator Obama [...]