That Senator Guy From Illinois...

A quote from a speech given by Al Gore at the DNC - I thought it was an interesting perspective on "experience." Gore makes that case that "character" and "intellectual capacity" mean far more, citing the unique case of our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln.

Before he entered the White House, Abraham Lincoln's experience in elective office consisted of eight years in his state legislature in Springfield, Illinois, and one term in Congress - during which he showed the courage and wisdom to oppose the invasion of another country that was popular when it started but later condemned by history.

The experience Lincoln's supporters valued most in that race was his powerful ability to inspire hope in the future at a time of impasse. He was known chiefly as a clear thinker and a great orator, with a passion for justice and a determination to heal the deep divisions of our land. He insisted on reaching past partisan and regional divides to exalt our common humanity.

If only Barack Obama had been born in a Hawaiian log cabin, then the parallel would be PERFECT.

BTW - the war that Lincoln strongly dissented against? The Mexican-American War. A disastrous political war championed mainly by the Southern Democrats who wanted more land and more slave states. Now that's a bad reason to go to war.