The Great Lincoln-Obama Debate

Posted by LM Stansbury on Thursday, September 04, 2008 12:00:00 AM

My long-time friend and Obama supporter sent me a message highlighting an argument on behalf of her candidate. I have attached her message along with a link to the article she was referencing. Following, is my response.

“Laura, in response to your comment about Palin having more experience than Obama, it's not the case. Please see the following article.” http://www.obamapedia.org/page/Does+Barack+Obama+have+enough+experience+to+be+president%3F?t=anon

My Response:

Thank you for this article and for your thoughts. This is not the first time I have heard Barack Obama’s name likened to Abraham Lincoln. I am not surprised that another great man’s name has been brought to the forefront of the American Political process in order that his accomplishments, separate of anything Barack Obama has done personally, may be used to justify the Senator’s fitness for the office of President. Bound however by a deep sense of reverence to Abraham Lincoln, I must comment on the reckless manner in which his life has been used these past several weeks and months.

Indeed, few of our Founding Fathers, magnificent though they were, could claim to be so impressive a figure as Abraham Lincoln. Senator Barack Obama’s acceptance of this comparison not only raises questions about his understanding of the gravity of Abraham Lincoln’s impact on humanity but it begs the question, is there no limit to Barack Obama’s sense of self-importance?

First and foremost, the author of the article you sent me reminds us that George W. Bush only served six years as the Governor of Texas before taking office. My response? Be careful, Obama supporters, when using such words as “only.” Do not be deceived into believing that the Obama Campaign is not fully aware how lacking in experience their candidate is. Those skilled in politics, to include Senator Obama, are fully aware that executive experience, by way of gubernatorial leadership, is monumentally more beneficial than legislative service, particularly at the state legislative level. Obama’s camp is attempting to downplay the importance of a governor’s seat, much in the way they are criticizing Governor Palin. They are riding on the assumption that the vast majority of their left-leaning constituencies are too ignorant to know the difference between executive and legislative experience.
The author next reminds the reader that Barack Obama can boast of ten years of experience in public office. As often as they are able to get away with it the Obama Campaign is going to lump Obama’s State and Federal Senate seats into one category of ten years worth of legislative experience. With regard to this tactic, I must enlighten those new to the political scene. For all intents and purposes, the State Legislature is the minor league. The issues about which they discuss are of paramount importance to be sure, but they are exceedingly different than the subject matter, constituency size and job demands faced by those at the federal level. As much as I respect my state leadership, I myself could be a state leader right now if I chose to run for a seat. So could you. It is important that all Obama supporters understand this fact. For the Obama Campaign to suggest that state legislative experience in any way equips a body for presidential responsibilities is intellectually dishonest. I have worked for members at both levels and I assure you, the difference is colossal.

The author’s next point pertains to Senator Obama’s ability to work across party lines. This, I find one of the most captivating arguments coming from the Obama Camp. In fact, was it not more than two years ago Democrats were claiming they liked Senator McCain, by virtue of his exceedingly bi-partisan record? It is as though this portion of history has been completely wiped from the slate. Of all the Senators in D.C., few can claim to be as bi-partisan as John McCain. In fact, when it comes to bi-partisan comparisons, Barack Obama cannot even compete, having earned the title as the most leftist voting record in the Senate! I often ask myself in what way a demand for Universal Healthcare is bi-partisan in that not one Republican with whom I communicate, can stomach the notion.

With regard to Obama’s ethics reforms at the federal level, I might be impressed… were we not at war. Given that all of his decisions with regard to the war have been dangerously misguided, to include the Surge, I am not tremendously impressed by his successes in ethics reform. Even with events which erupted since the commencement of the campaign season, Senator Obama’s instinctive responses to international problems such as that faced by the Georgians, has been wretchedly imprudent. I worry that we might find ourselves with a leader who is great at ethics reform on the Hill and entirely ill-equipped to address our most serious issues abroad. What’s more, his running mate has been on the wrong side of foreign policy judgment since the eighties. Indeed, Senator Biden was among the last of our leaders to let go of the dense notion of Detent in our battle against the Soviet Union.

With regard to Obama’s foreign policy experience, I find it somewhat desperate that Obama supporters are forced to hearken back to Obama’s undergraduate major as an example of his foreign policy experience. This is as ludicrous an argument as my suggesting to the State Department that I serve in a high office by virtue of my undergraduate major in political science. The author of the article you sent me goes on to reference Obama’s committee assignments in the U.S. Senate as additional qualifying foreign policy experience. If Obama wants to portray himself as the candidate with fresh new ideas, as the Washington, D.C. “outsider,” then he might not want to remind the American People that the greater portion of his foreign policy experience stems from his Senate committee assignments.
Barack Obama claims he has a wealth of foreign policy experience. As compared with whom? John McCain? John McCain who spent 26 years in Congress but 27 in his military career? John McCain who served overseas and spent and a grueling five years as prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton? This is the short list of John McCain’s overseas experience. If I were Barack Obama, I would be careful when delving into this arena.

To the matter of Barack Obama’s past, I have grown tired of the stories detailing the accomplishments of the Senator’s parents and grandparents. Inasmuch as I am proud of my mother for her life’s hard work, I am no more responsible for her successes than those reading this article. I imagine that in a job interview, my potential employer would care precious little about the strengths of my family members when determining my fitness for the job opening.

Then there is the matter of his experience as a Community Organizer to which I must ask, “WHAT IS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER?” I have never met a professional community organizer so I delved more deeply into this portion of Barack Obama’s past. Must one acquire some special certificate? Must one be knowledgeable in a certain area of study? Certainly the man who is running as the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States has something impressive to share with regard to this phase of his career. What did I find after my digging? Nothing interesting. In fact, Barack Obama’s work as a Community Organizer resembled… well, the sorts of jobs that most of us liberal arts majors (I should know) acquired after our graduation from college. Not only was the task breakdown during Obama’s Community Organizer years, uninteresting, they did not even seem to require an especially exceptional person to retain them. In fact, Obama’s self-titled Community Organizer career seems to have been nothing more than a shined up version of an ambiguous phase of his professional transition for which his resume required a better title.

To the last statement in the article, suggesting that Obama’s decision to stay out of Iraq was wise, I suppose history will be the judge of that. As commander in chief, should he become such, Senator Obama must remember that history always judges more harshly, the man who did nothing in the face of danger, than the man who did something.

Anyone who has studied the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln would be hard pressed to compare him with any leader, let alone a left-leaning Senator who had for twenty years condoned his pastor’s anti-American hate-mongering. Abraham Lincoln was much more than a great leader, a great orator or a great president. He was a great human being, profoundly attuned to his moral compass in a way most of us will never appreciate. For those who have likened the well-spoken senator to some our greatest American leaders, let me say, a short-term Senator from Illinois does not make you a Lincoln anymore than the color of your skin makes you a Reverend King.