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In an article appearing in yesterday's NY Times, Ryan Lizza wrote:

Running a credible campaign for president has always required an elusive mixture of star power and experience. But Barack Obama’s strong challenge to Hillary Clinton and Rudolph W. Giuliani’s recent surge past Senator John McCain in the polls raise an interesting question: How much does experience matter now in presidential politics?

After 9/11 it seemed that high-level government experience would be more important than ever. And yet, neither Mr. Obama nor Mr. Giuliani have the kind of governing experience traditionally seen as a prerequisite for White House service. Mr. Obama spent nine years in the Illinois State Senate and two years in the United States Senate, while Mr. Giuliani has served two terms as mayor of New York.

Say what you want about the relevance of Giuliani's experience as mayor, but to compare being a state senator and serving in the U.S. Senate for two years to governing a city for eight years that has a population larger than 39 states, and a budget and workforce larger than all but five or six states, is flatly absurd. Also, the opening paragraph implies that Clinton brings a lot of governing experience to the table, and yet she has never served in an executive capacity and has only served six years as Senator, with no legislative accomplishments to speak of. Whenever I come across a Hillary Clinton supporter I ask them to point me toward one tangible thing she has done, and I've yet to get a response. 

topics:
John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, NATO