Very much disagree with this. Richardson fits this bill. The closest thing to be the president is to be a state governor. Also, Richardson has international experience, worked as Secretary of Energy, and 14 years in Congress. I find it funny when folks compare Clinton and Obama, who for all intents are equal experience wise, when there is Richardson who blows them both out of the water.

All in all I do not agree that Hillary’s first lady time counts. As mentioned earlier she was not an elected official and therefore did not carry the burden and responsibility of making things happen. She was essentially a very active staffer and that is not the same thing.

Also, her service so far as Senator has been so so. Nothing great, nothing horrendous.

I would like to add that no one has experience at being President until they’re actually in the office. Of all the candidates (Dem and Rep) Hillary has come the closest to having that experience. As First Lady she personally watched Bill’s battles, giving him advice on how to proceed. Then she watched the result and was able to see what worked and what didn’t. Sure Bill made the final decision, but he always considered her opinion. Even if you feel that Hillary is inexperienced you still must remember that Hillary is smart and deft, which is probably most of the battle when it comes to getting your way in politics.

If I were voting for experience alone, I would vote for Hillary. But I support Obama because I feel that he is less polarizing than Hillary and will tend to domestic issues (i.e. crime, education, etc. especially when it comes to disadvantaged Americans) that affect those Americans who aren’t part of Bush’s demographic (rich and self-serving) supporters.

While I generally find the importance of experience to be wildly overrated I do think you are giving Hillary much too much credit..

. Pushing through legislation as fast as possible often doesn’t work. You’ve got to compromise, you’ve got to listen to the other side and you’ve got to give critics something in return for their support. This project alone gave Clinton more experience than Obama has collected in his entire political life (same goes for Edwards).

So she learned how to be a Congresswoman while she was a first lady? How exactly do Obama or Edwards not have this experience? Obama has already written and sponsored several bills that have been passed.

That is at the crux of why Republican politicians hate ther. They fear her ablitily to attract votes from the ranks of Republicans.

I have my own issues with Hillary, but they are most definitely not issues of lack of experience or competence. Her work of the Armed Services Committe has been lauded by members of both parties familiar with her performance.

hate this SOB obama as well as his ignorant supporters.

Ah, the smell of unity and moderation is in the air!

In any case it is true that Hillary has more experience than Obama, though he has spent more time as an elected official than she has. He’d likely not be running if he weren’t black and she’d likely not be running if her last name weren’t “Clinton”. I still find him to be by far the more principled of the two candidates, and the only one of the two that can hope to heal some of the polarization that has ripped this country apart.

Well, except for LL, I guess. Care to explain why Obama is an SOB? Quite something that, even Rush Limbaugh has never gone that far.

However, when her rivals needle her about the experience question, particularly Obama, what they are really talking about is experience as an elected official.

How long has obama been an elected official? He took office as a U.S. Senator in 2005, and even if you count his having been an Illinois state senator as “experience” qualifying him for president which I don’t, he was elected to that office in 1996. So he has 10 years as an elected official overall, a little more than 2 1/2 years in national office. Exactly what makes him more qualified than Hillary. I hate this SOB obama as well as his ignorant supporters. And I’m sick of the media and his supporters fawning over him.

Obama even went so far as to say that he wonders since when “First Lady” is considered experience for a presidential candidate.

It’s quite ironic for Obama to be questioning Hillary’s experience since he himself is quite short on experience. This is the pot calling the kettle black. But Obama counts on his race making him immune from too harsh criticism and anyone questioning his qualifications to be president. Anyhow, she wasn’t merely First Lady, she has been a Senator for the past 7 years. When exactly did Obama first take office?

Furthermore this experience question was already rendered a moot point as years of experience does not make for good leadership, just look at Bush or Cheyney.