McCain's so-called "experience"

McCain is credited by some supporters as having more "experience" than Barack Obama and thus is more qualified to be president of the United States.

Many McCain supporters play up his "heroic" role in Vietnam, as if that is an experience that somehow translates to the qualities needed in an occupant of the White House. It does not. And while some may consider McCain a "hero," it would seem he does not qualify for that role, either, according to generally-accepted guidelines as to what constitutes a hero.

A hero is someone who, without regard for his or her own safety, accomplishes deeds of bravery on behalf of others. A hero is proactive, moving beyond what is required to what is inspired.

McCain was shot down by the North Vietnamese. He was captured and held in prison for five years. At times, it appears he was physically abused. In the end he cooperated with his jailers.
Many other men went through the same experience in Vietnam as did John McCain. They should be credited for their stamina and endurance. But stamina and endurance doth not a hero make.

McCain returned home, dumped his wife, married a young, very rich woman and then used her money to seek political office, eventually winding up in the United States Senate. He has been, at best, a mediocre senator, generally falling in line with the more conservative wing of the Republican Party.

He is perhaps best known for his affiliation with lobbyists, which continues to this day, in spite of his protestations that he is anti-lobbyist. He chief adviser, Charlie Black, is a notorious lobbyist, and former adviser to Jesse Helms.

Fairly soon after arriving in the Senate, McCain, along with four other Congressmen, became embroiled in a major scandal which involved assisting Charles Keating deregulate the Savings and Loan industry, a scandal that cost the U.S. taxpayers at least $200 billion! McCain must have had clout, for he received merely a slap on the wrist.

McCain has changed his mind on almost every position he has taken over the past 10-20 years, giving the appearance of a person who is unstable and unfaithful to his stated principles. These flip-flops have been well-documented so there is no reason to detail them here.

On a couple of occasions he has worked with other Senators to sponsor legislation of some importance: campaign finance reform and immigration. In both cases, he appears to be backing away from involvement on these two issues. In fact, with regard to immigration, he now opposes the bill he proposed.

We have also seen on several occasions that McCain knows almost nothing of the Middle East, which in terms of foreign policy will continue to be front and center in the years to come. He also has a tendency to lie. When traveling in Iraq, he made several statements which he knew were false when he made them. For example, he said he walked through an area of Baghdad basically unprotected with no problem. It was later revealed he was accompanied by hundreds of armed troops and well as helicopters.

In summary, McCain's touted "experience" is non-existent. He is simply another right-wing Republican lackey with no moral or ethical center.


While McCain's "experience" doesn't qualify him for the presidency, neither does Obama's experience. In truth, there is just no way to obtain all the experience one needs to sit in the Oval Office. The presidency of the United States is a unique position, and demands much more than mere "experience."

We need someone who not only understands the workings of the government, but who is knowledgeable about the document that undergirds those workings -- the Constitution. But more than that, we need a president who is committed to ensuring that all governmental agencies follow constitutional mandates.

Bush, as we have seen, does not know the duties of the three branches of government, claiming at one point the executive makes the laws.

An effective president will also be one who cares about people, not party platforms. We need a pragmatic president, who determines policies and programs based on the needs of the people of the United States, not on the needs of the corporations.

We need a president who stands in the legal tradition of the Magna Carta and the ethical tradition of the Enlightenment.

We need a president who has enough confidence in himself or herself that he or she can listen to other views without taking umbrage; a president who is able to change his or her mind if the reasons for doing so are based on a concern for the people and not his or her political career.

We need a president who is an intellectual, who is smart, who reads real books, who has a grasp of the history, not only of our country, but the other countries in the world; a president who doesn't have to rely on one-page daily briefings written by cronies; a president who knows when he is being conned.


Some say Barack Obama does not have enough "experience," as if McCain does. We've seen McCain's experience; it is sorely lacking. Obama, on the other hand, did not have everything handed to him on a silver platter, as did McCain. Obama had to work for everything he has obtained. And working your way up is a great learning experience! Obama was not in the bottom of his college class as was McCain, which would lead one to believed he got more out of college than did McCain. Obama did not end up working for a major law firm, (or beer company) but took a job as a community organizer believing he could actually help people who were suffering financially in the Chicago area.

Obama has learned from his experiences, and that's perhaps the most important "experience" a candidate for president can have. He isn't perfect by any means, but the presidency will challenge a person in unimaginable ways, and it would appear that Obama is by far and away the man up to the challenge.

Currently, we have a president who is so weak he thinks wars solve problems; who is so frightened, he has shut down his government from the public view; a president who is so terrified of the terrorists he believes it necessary to gut the Constitution to "save" the nation; a president who is so stupid he proudly claims he doesn't read books; a president who is so superstitious he believes God talks to him and tells him what to do.

McCain represents more of the above.

Obama represents a different kind of presidency; a presidency where "experience" is defined, not as a series of static events in the past, but in those life situations that provide the opportunity for learning, growing, and maturing.

And that's exactly the kind of presidential "experience" we need in the 21st Century!


You can read another take on McCain's "experience" here.