2008 Presidential Race :: Twin Peaks Gazette Message Board

Oh, Jamie, there's a whole lotta folks that would vote for a black man for president especially after having TWO black presidents on "24" over the past few years. No problema. Then there was Geena Davis, the lady prez but Hillary is a horse of a different color so I still think that's unlikely. And I am serious about the "24" equation's relevance.

Obama and experience. I really don't think that experience is the most important feature for the president of the United States. It surely isn't for the voters. Consider this from Theodore Sorenson who worked for JFK:

He [JFK] was, like Obama, a first-term US senator. But he was not yet 40 years old, making Obama, already 45, a geezer by comparison.
At the time, Washington pundits assumed Kennedy had at least two insurmountable obstacles. The first was his lack of experience, especially compared with the senior statesmen also seeking that nomination - Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Adlai Stevenson and Stuart Symington. Kennedy acknowledged that his age and inexperience would turn away some voters. Obama, though older than Kennedy, is similarly dismissed by some today. But Kennedy noted in one speech that "experience is like tail-lights on a boat which illuminate where we have been when we should be focusing on where we should be going".

The second issue was religion since Kennedy was the first Catholic to run. We see how much that didn't hurt the outcome of the 1960 election.

The way I see it is that whoever holds that highest office, they are going to do like a parent does -- they WILL do some harm. They will damage their child. But the hope is, that in this most impossible of jobs, you do cause more positive change than irrevocable damage. The Constitution is strong and I do not yet feel there are imminent death knells sounding.

What that takes is a couple of things. To me the most important quality is that the people, by and large, like their president and that they feel (by and large) he (yeah, "he") is capable, intelligent, strong and well-equipped for the challenges ahead. That is mostly perception since no individual in the world is equipped for the job. But fine. Let's go with the international perception. The press perception. The man on the street perception. Not to exclude the vainglorious perception of the man (yeah, man) himself as to his presidential abilities.

There would be, in my opinion, a certain vindication among whites and blacks alike that the United States has reached the point where they would vote a black man into office. I think for most Americans there would be a whiff of "see, we're not the racists you in other lands might believe us to be."

Ohmygawd, and I just realized, Obama is not only a black man but a black man whose name ends in a vowel other than "e." Another first! (Just like Giuliani would be) Since Obama is not a Republican, it would also allow much of the world to shudder off a huge sigh of relief that the next president is not a Bush crony or some other incarnation of an evil Republicans. (snicker loudly) Here would be the 21st century version of Camelot with the young attractive, optimistic candidate with his pretty, educated, intelligent wife and their two cute little kids. Perfect! Oh can you just see the magazine covers to come! Talk about a Morning in America! The Honeymoon Stage might go on indefinitely!

Then there's the governing part. A president do not do this job alone. And he (yeah, "he") cannot arbitrarily make the ship sail according to his own set of rules regardless of the boo hoo hoos of those who would claim Bush has done just that. It's a great big complex government with enemies within and without. Steering the ship of state is a challenge no one can do with perfect expertise. I'm for giving a young, energetic, intelligent, optimistic, engaging, articulate (yeah, "articulate" -- also a necessary quality the next time out) guy a shot.

Susan