Barr & Nader are true lightweights, and Palin is probably Obama's equal in foreign policy experience, since both have practically none [being a subcommittee chairman on the SenFonRel Cte isn't experience-----my wife worked for Paul Sarbanes as a legislative aide for several years & he was functionally illiterate on the Middle East though he chaired that subcommittee in the SenFonRelCte.  I talked to him a couple of times & he really tried not to get involved in any Arab-Israeli issues & knowingly kept himself ignorant----and he chaired the subcte for a decade.] ————– Original message from “Disqus” <>: ————–

McCain has experience, but he doesn't have the judgment or temperament to be president. He's a hothead and his judgment is terrible.

Even if you just look at the disparity in experience between McCain/Biden and Obama, I really don't get what you're getting at, Jazz. McCain and Biden are both long-term U.S. senators, and Obama is also a U.S. senator, first term, and before that was a state senator for, I believe, three terms. It's the same exact experience — the difference is that McCain and Biden have more *years* of that experience (DUH, they're a lot older than Obama, too).

If being a member of Congress does NOT give you experience in governance; if being a governor or a mayor is what gives you governing experience, then how can either McCain or Biden be considered to have governing experience?

Even the bottom of the class has what it takes to lead men into the most difficult situations.

Considering McCain's record in that institution, it amazes me you actually want to go there.

This is disturbing news.

In the context of the presidency, executive experience equates to decision making. By decision making, I am referring to being the person who has the final say on matters of consequence.

McCain was trained for 4 years at one of the premier schools dedicated almost exclusively to decision making in matters of consequence – the U.S. Naval Academy. This school, along with West Point, are revered around the world for producing graduates who can make life and death decisions quickly, accurately and with honor.

I didn’t find that syllabus at Harvard.

From his earliest experiences in the Navy, he was given further training and escalating responsibilities in leadership and decision making.

I haven’t checked the community organizer training programs, so if they’re the same, let me know.

obviously, i agree.

jwest:

since most voters don't vote for third parties, i see no problem in going that direction in non-swing states. when's the last time maryland went republican for prez? or alaska went democrat?

Stop comparing Palin to Obama you nutjobs. One is a vetted nominee, the other is a short straw pick out of a hat.

Otherwise we can get into what foreign international experience does Palin have stacked up to Biden's.

Having and island populate by US eskimos 3 miles from an island populated by Russian Eskimos doesn't count.

I’m sorry if you think reality is insulting, but the truth is the truth.

By voting for any third party, especially in a tight and critical election, you are choosing to sit out in a huff because neither of two real candidates matches every attribute you want in a president.

Tough luck. You either participate in a meaningful way or you don’t.

Sure, if it’s obvious Obama is going to lose in a landslide, go ahead and make your protest vote. But if this is a close contest, you are leaving your duty to help put the proper person in office by making a symbolic gesture.

Just like being a president, sometimes you have to choose between two not-so-great options. This is not the time to pass the ball and sit on the sidelines.

and let's use factcheck.org, not wikipedia……….

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/obama_p…

Elections are like your family sending you for Chinese food.

You’ve got column A or column B.

It doesn’t matter that you like the food at the Italian restaurant down the street, if you don’t make a choice here, the kids won’t eat.

Put your big boy pants on and pick one.

I was in Moscow the first week of May and was in the reviewing stand for the dress rehearsal of the National Parade in Red Square. (Got some crummy pictures too, but don’t know how to imbed them in a comment)

Moscow is awash with money and the feeling there is one of optimism and national pride. The era of conspicuous consumption that we experienced in the late ‘90s pales in comparison to what is occurring in the wealthy sections of town.

The Russian attitude toward the former Soviet satellite states is one of entitlement. They don’t view them as independent, but just temporarily out of the fold. Everyone in the business community views the Russian Army as the pipeline acquisition department of Gazprom. Most of the upper levels in the companies are former KGB or early retired command to field grade military.

There is unanimity of opinion that foreign interference in their internal affairs is not only unwanted, but insulting to the national pride. By internal affairs, I mean anything concerning the territories comprising the former Soviet Union.

Other than that, they are great to do business with.

i wholeheartedly agree. i like ideas from many different schools of thought, and the present system offers pretty much either/or. once or twice, i've seen it suggested that a mccain-obama ticket would be interesting.

there really should be separate votes for pres and vice-pres; why not make 'em work together out of the same office(s)? then we'd really see what bipartisanship and “reaching across the aisle” was all about. if the administration still screwed up, then it would very clear that all involved parties are responsible.

running the country should be the job of Americans, and democrats or republicans only incidentally. the labels too often get in the way.

we COULD talk about POLAR BEARS! that would be polarizing, AND fun.

but seriously (and sorry for all the caps there): i'd love to hear any and all opinions on russia these days. anyone here in-the-know on the caucasus, or on the country's ambitions in the arctic?