It's About Knowledge, Not Experience

There is a false argument being peddled by supporters of the McCain-Palin ticket lately; one that equates the experience of Sarah Palin, the hockey mom and former mayor of Wasilla, AK (population 7,500), with that of Barack Obama, the former state senator and twelve-year professor of constitutional law.

What the pundits and newscasters seem to miss is the obvious: that this isn't about experience, but about knowledge. Anyone who has read or viewed any in-depth interview with Barack Obama will readily admit that the man knows his stuff. Here are links to just a couple of such interviews on foreign policy. Judge for yourself.

Obama understands that we live in a complicated, nuanced world, one in which cowboy-style "straight talk" does little but earn us dismissive laughs from friends and enemies overseas. This is what Bush has offered us for eight years, weakening our alliances, our credibility and our deterrent capabilities, as is evident with the most recent crisis in Georgia. Yet this is what John McCain keeps telling us we need.

In contrast, Obama's accomplished intellectual preparation in international relations and law would be a welcome change. It isn't enough to have good advisers. One has to have the knowledge to be treated like an adult in their presence, and not get intellectually manhandled the way our current president has been by the likes of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. As President Bush has shown us, the lack of judgment goes hand in hand with the lack of knowledge.

John McCain has many years under his belt as a U.S. senator, but he still can't tell the difference between Sunni and Shia, and on repeated occasions he has actually forgotten that Czechoslovakia is no longer a country. McCain has a great resume, but sadly he has only the most limited knowledge about foreign policy. Sarah Palin, who would be a heartbeat away from the presidency, has neither.

Since getting picked as the Republican vice presidential candidate, Palin has been getting briefed by Bush foreign policy advisers on the issues of our day. But if McCain's consistent gaffes are any indication, there is little a candidate can do to cram during prime time. McCain has had his entire career to learn about foreign policy, but he still misses the mark on the most basic of facts.

This election may be couched in language of experience versus change, but if we want to elect a leader with the judgment to put us on the right track, let's hope we finally elect a leader who actually knows his stuff.

Nathan Gonzalez is author of Engaging Iran (2007) and the upcoming The Sunni-Shia Conflict and the Iraq War (2009).

Read more analysis from HuffPost bloggers on John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin

Follow Nathan Gonzalez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/engagingiran

Comments

[KiwisCanFly]

YUP

Experience is not irrelevant.

But good judgment will beat out experience every time.
Good judgment comes from being informed.

Sen. Obama has proven himself over and over again. He has been thoroughly vetted for 19 mths and his favorability has risen.

Gov Palin has only just started her national vetting. As MSM dissects her acceptance speech and her town hall meets, everyday a new revealation exposes her distortions.

Her credibility is diminishing.

Sen McCain's judgment or lack of is being questioned.

Without good judgment then all the experience in the world is obsolete.

[ConcernedCanadain]

If "executive" experience is the sole determinent for being an effective POTUS, then Geroge W. Bush should have been a lot better president than he has been.
Bush ran a couple of oil companies, was the managing director of a major sports franchise (the Texas Rangers) and was, of course governor of Texas for 6 yrs. Most Americans now consider Bush to be one of the worst, if not the worst president in history.
The man that almost every American consider to be one of three best presidents, Abraham Lincoln, had absolutely NO executive experience prior to being elected.

[FebM]

Spot on, how come so many pundits never see this? Executive experience? lets keep GW. If the US wants to be the leader of the free world, they must show the intellectual competence to do that. As one paper asked in the UK

"Why is being a soccer mom a qualification for being the second in command of the so-called global superpower?"

[luckyinnc]

iran and russia will be real impressed by his intellectual preparation in international laws. experience in decision making is something you accumulate by actually doing, something O is definitely lacking.

[readytsf]

Yeah, the bad guys in Russia, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Venezuela are big on "nuance" talk. Tell me how that works out for ya............

[Theran]

Obama would have no trouble meeting fire with fire in the "straight talk" department.
Let bellicose attacks be answered by forceful words of substance from a statesman-like
leader. Yes--who understands the nuances beneath the surface. A few more ears might
even truly listen.

[readytsf]

Attacks answered by words??? Like I said, tell ,me how that works out for ya...........

[Rescisco]

"What the pundits and newscasters seem to miss is the obvious: that this isn't about experience, but about knowledge."

So true. And what we seem to miss is that knowledge is a handicap in competitive elections. Our politics is so far removed from the essentials of governing that it is nearly impossible to elect a competent, much less intelligent, person. If one has the ability or the intellect to be a great (or even just successful) leader, one cannot be elected. This is a sad truth.

[Daisy1111]

The MSM also missed this:

http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=305508174916939

[dkerrice2861]

Let's see now..... Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review (obviously had to possess good leadership qualities to have earned that honor!) and a law professor, a faith based community organizer, Illinois state senator and U.S Senator. Biden was also a law professor and a U.S. senator with extensive knowledge in international and foreign affairs and is well respected by world leaders.

McCain graduated 5th at the bottom of a class of about 900 and admits he was not a good student who hated learning, an honorable war hero and a U.S senator. Palin went to 5 different colleges, took 6 years to graduate with degree in journalism, was a small town part-time mayor, Gov. of a state with a population less than a major city in the lower states (half the year is spent in the dark) and claims she has more executive experience than any of the candidates ("W" had even more executive experience as Gov. and look where that got us!) THANKS, but NO THANKS!

Oh My... such a hard decision to make on who is most capable to lead! Decisions, decisions what shall I do? COME ON AMERICA, WAKE UP! I will take knowledge over experience any day! After all, all the experience in the world could prepare one for such a unique position!

[suec03]

One of the tools used by Karl Rove and other media-savvy conservatives (James Dobson, etc.) to reach their "base" is anti-intel­lectualism­. To them, it was not ancient Jewish men but God himself who wrote in Genesis that It was curiosity and eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden that caused "the Fall" wherein Adam and Eve realized they were naked, and God was angry with them and cast them out of the Garden of Eden, and told Eve that henceforth, all women would suffer pain when delivering children. Thus the lesson is, don't trust people with a lot of education and who think a lot. Only listen to leaders anointed by God or by the leaders of "his church." It is the same kind of fear of secular knowledge that has so many religious conservatives pulling their kids out of public school and homeschooling them using cockeyed textbooks written for the homeschool market, including denial of evolution.

Sens. Biden and Obama will have to hammer away on the economy, on jobs, on bringing home our troops and getting them the medical, psychiatric, and job reentry services they need, and the poor judgment and screwups of anti-intellectual George W. Bush. The Democrats are dealing with the issues in this campaign that affect people right now in their daily lives, while McCain-Palin dodge people's pain and instead give them bread and circuses (drill in Alaska and Obama is a celebrity!).

[BethStuart]

The general attitude in Europe towards McCain and Palin is one of barely disguised contempt. This will not matter in the election since Europeans can't vote. Howver, President McCain will have real problems getting political support from traditional allies in international matters. McCain will have the same problems as Bush.

[joyking]

(continued)

Education is a direct gauge of knowledge, if nothing else. And the pursuance of higher education also indicates one's willingness to learn and be successful. I want a president who fits into that criteria. I want a leader who knows about the laws of our country and shows the capacity to garner all the information he can about policies, whether they be national or foreign. I want someone who has the ability to weigh in all sides of the argument and choose what is best for the people.

True there have been politicians who did not go to college, yet had proven their ability to lead. But it should also be fair to say that one's education should not be dismissed, let alone be used as a fault or an excuse to call someone "uppity". Education should have equal footing with experience. After all, when putting our nation's future in someone else's hands, I'd like a person who has the knowledge to know what to do with it.

[joyking]

For other occupations, such as those in the medical field, the number one prerequisite is education. In such highly competitive fields, indicators such as grades, test scores, and schools are used to prove if a person is qualified to work. Rightly so, considering we often put our own lives in these people's hands. But why does it seem as if this same notion is on the back-burner when it comes to politics? Why aren't our leaders not put up to this same standard? After all, we indirectly put our lives in their hands. Their decisions affect our way of life.

I agree that this is the time for Obama to emphasize on his education, to not let accusations of being elitist and an empty orator make him shy away from showing just how smart he is. To not allow opponents transform the term "ivy-leaguer" into something negative, as many have been doing these past months. To emphasize on the fact that he came from humble beginnings where he and his family worked hard to send him to school. (Because isn't that the goal of so many American families? To provide their children with the best education possible?)

It's surprising how much the candidates' educational background is trumped by experience and personality.

(continued)

[StephanieF24]

This is exactly what ive been saying... I want someone who searches for knowledge and uses sound judjement- not someone who chases their values and beliefs.

[judithmce]

The Republicans live in a black and white world, where we all must agree completely on the issues, or we're cast as enemies. Unfortunately, we don't live in Middle Earth, so this fantasy view doesn't serve us well (axis of evil, anyone? Give me a break). Our world, and it's problems are less clear-cut. I believe Barack Obama understands the challenges we face and look forward to his re-establishing the credibility of American politics on the world stage. It looks like many global citizens agree: http://www.myvirtualvote.com

[BassCat]

Far better than fantasy land!!!!

[aofh]

I don't think the black-and-white world works very well in the Middle-East either. Too many people are stuck in cycles of vengeance that go back hundreds of years. As the world gets smaller and more complex, black-and-white thinking ceases to work and its practices become unsustainable.

[TroubleNYC]

Let's not forget that she mentioned that running Wassila was not "rocket science". Kind of negates the strong "executive experience" meme when you're stating that it was really a trivial position.

[PJay1]

Ah, thank you, Mr. Gonzalez, for saying what I've been thinking ever since the word "experience" came up regarding Sarah Palen.

Wish the Obama camp and pundits would reframe this experience thing (though Sen Obama has more than Gov Palen), and start talking knowledge.

I fear, however, that the electorate is so dumbed down, that it wouldn't much matter.
I so hope I'm wrong.

[dbm1966]

I completely agree with you. But I have no faith in the American public. Not those who read articles at HuffPost or elsewhere (excluding those who get their information from Fox News). Things like intelligence, preparedness, knowledge, etc. no longer matter in tihs country. People vote based on emotion, fear and ignorance ("Yeah, let's kill those *%$# Muslims!"). They also vote on based upon who they can relate to. Because Republicans shy away from the real issues and just try to scare voters to death, they win. I hope we can end this cycle, but I fear that, as a country, we're not getting any smarter and Republican tactics are still viable.