Lexington Herald Leader Editorial: [Barack] Obama [Is The] Right Man For The Job [Of President].
Obama right man for the job
Even if this country were not in dire need of a new direction, Sen. Barack Obama would make a better president than Sen. John McCain.
McCain's one advantage, experience, is of little use without judgment and temperament. On both counts, Obama has shown himself to be better qualified.
Obama has been composed, consistent and honorable through a long and tricky campaign, which he has led almost flawlessly.
McCain, meanwhile, has abandoned stands that once earned him respect as a principled maverick within the Republican Party. He has done about-faces on immigration and the Bush tax cuts, the first ever during wartime, which he once opposed but now wants to expand. He drowned out his own enlightened voice on global warming with chants of "Drill, baby, drill." After fighting influence-peddling in Congress, he handed his campaign over to corporate lobbyists to manage.
With McCain, voters have no idea what they'd be getting, other than a president who promises to hold out for victory in a war in which no surrender papers can ever be signed because the enemy will always change shapes.
Despite his relative youth, Obama, at 47 (three years older than John F. Kennedy when he became president) has shown himself to be a more reliable leader than McCain.
Compare their responses to the financial rescue negotiations: McCain thrust himself into the spotlight, threatening to cancel a debate and rushing to Washington where he had nothing to offer except a distraction. The talks, coincidentally, broke down that day.
Obama, on the other hand, was sensitive to the need to insulate the negotiations from presidential politics. He listened to his bipartisan advisers, including some who steered the vibrant economy of the Clinton years. He reassured the public that the country would weather the crisis and counseled patience and calm. He was, in a word, presidential. In the end, both candidates voted for the plan.
And then there's Sarah Palin. The Alaska governor is great at firing up conservative crowds and gave McCain's campaign a shot in the arm. But, for all her charms, she is starkly unqualified to be president. Her mastery of the challenges go no deeper than reciting talking points.
McCain, 72, is the oldest person to ever run for president and has had cancer four times. Yet, barely knowing her and with little time for consideration, he put Palin in line to be president should he win.
Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, would be prepared to step into the presidency. The larger point: The contrast in running mates is just one example of Obama's steadier leadership.
And this country does desperately need new leadership. We're in a mess. It's not just a large federal budget surplus that evaporated in the last eight years. U.S. standing is as diminished as its credit rating. We can never lead the world until we regain our economic footing and the world's respect.
Even Obama is understating the seriousness of the problems and the cost of fixing them.
McCain promises change but still supports the calamitous fiscal and foreign policies of President Bush.
The United States can't afford any more Iraqs, an unnecessary war of which McCain still heartily approves.
The next president must be able to outsmart our enemies and re-enlist our allies. Obama would bring to the task a formidable intelligence and an eloquent ability to inspire.
His rich experience — son of a single mom, living as a child in Indonesia, excelling as editor of the Harvard Law Review, working with blue-collar communities in Chicago to reduce unemployment and poverty, writing about his roots in Africa and Kansas, serving in the Illinois legislature and U.S. Senate — will serve a 21st-century president extremely well, while McCain's thinking seems stuck somewhere in the Cold War.
On Nov. 4, voters won't be picking someone with whom to have a beer or the person they would most likely sit next to in church. They're hiring a leader for the world's toughest job.
Any former president would say that it's impossible to be prepared for the enormity of the responsibility. Like any employer, voters should consider which candidate has the greater capacity to learn and grow on the job.
McCain is the past. Obama is the future. Voters should make him our next president.
Even if this country were not in dire need of a new direction, Sen. Barack Obama would make a better president than Sen. John McCain.
McCain's one advantage, experience, is of little use without judgment and temperament. On both counts, Obama has shown himself to be better qualified.
Obama has been composed, consistent and honorable through a long and tricky campaign, which he has led almost flawlessly.
McCain, meanwhile, has abandoned stands that once earned him respect as a principled maverick within the Republican Party. He has done about-faces on immigration and the Bush tax cuts, the first ever during wartime, which he once opposed but now wants to expand. He drowned out his own enlightened voice on global warming with chants of "Drill, baby, drill." After fighting influence-peddling in Congress, he handed his campaign over to corporate lobbyists to manage.
With McCain, voters have no idea what they'd be getting, other than a president who promises to hold out for victory in a war in which no surrender papers can ever be signed because the enemy will always change shapes.
Despite his relative youth, Obama, at 47 (three years older than John F. Kennedy when he became president) has shown himself to be a more reliable leader than McCain.
Compare their responses to the financial rescue negotiations: McCain thrust himself into the spotlight, threatening to cancel a debate and rushing to Washington where he had nothing to offer except a distraction. The talks, coincidentally, broke down that day.
Obama, on the other hand, was sensitive to the need to insulate the negotiations from presidential politics. He listened to his bipartisan advisers, including some who steered the vibrant economy of the Clinton years. He reassured the public that the country would weather the crisis and counseled patience and calm. He was, in a word, presidential. In the end, both candidates voted for the plan.
And then there's Sarah Palin. The Alaska governor is great at firing up conservative crowds and gave McCain's campaign a shot in the arm. But, for all her charms, she is starkly unqualified to be president. Her mastery of the challenges go no deeper than reciting talking points.
McCain, 72, is the oldest person to ever run for president and has had cancer four times. Yet, barely knowing her and with little time for consideration, he put Palin in line to be president should he win.
Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, would be prepared to step into the presidency. The larger point: The contrast in running mates is just one example of Obama's steadier leadership.
And this country does desperately need new leadership. We're in a mess. It's not just a large federal budget surplus that evaporated in the last eight years. U.S. standing is as diminished as its credit rating. We can never lead the world until we regain our economic footing and the world's respect.
Even Obama is understating the seriousness of the problems and the cost of fixing them.
McCain promises change but still supports the calamitous fiscal and foreign policies of President Bush.
The United States can't afford any more Iraqs, an unnecessary war of which McCain still heartily approves.
The next president must be able to outsmart our enemies and re-enlist our allies. Obama would bring to the task a formidable intelligence and an eloquent ability to inspire.
His rich experience — son of a single mom, living as a child in Indonesia, excelling as editor of the Harvard Law Review, working with blue-collar communities in Chicago to reduce unemployment and poverty, writing about his roots in Africa and Kansas, serving in the Illinois legislature and U.S. Senate — will serve a 21st-century president extremely well, while McCain's thinking seems stuck somewhere in the Cold War.
On Nov. 4, voters won't be picking someone with whom to have a beer or the person they would most likely sit next to in church. They're hiring a leader for the world's toughest job.
Any former president would say that it's impossible to be prepared for the enormity of the responsibility. Like any employer, voters should consider which candidate has the greater capacity to learn and grow on the job.
McCain is the past. Obama is the future. Voters should make him our next president.
Labels: Endorsement
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 3:41 PM
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