I’ll take the first one any day. I will never understand why experience is touted over judgement. Isn’t the whole point of experience to build better judgement and possibly even wisdom. If a person’s 35 years of experience don’t bring better judgement than is the experience anything more than just that. If a person starts a career with great judgment, aren’t those the people who usually climb the ladder of success faster. Isn’t this the meaning of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. I don’t believe this supposedly American addage implies that a person who toils away at the same job with the same results is successful but instead stagnant or in some cases satiated.
Why wouldn’t we want a president who has shown clear judgment and the willingness to listen and adapt to situations and advice of those around him? I think a lot of this not enough experience crap is playing well because of the last 8 years of the decider. People were fooled by the last fool who impressed upon them that his job was to make all the decisions and run the country. In reality a president is supposed to lead, and the best leaders are the ones who listen with an open mind and then make decisions based on opinions of those who may know more than he does or may have more experience in an area than he does. I am pretty sure Lincoln one of America’s favorite presidents had very little government experience, but what he did was surround himself with people who would foster debate and challenge him. This was how great policy and things manifested in his time. It wasn’t because he had been in office for more than 20 years and touted himself the decider of all things.
Why are Americans so willing to believe that this country belongs to anyone other than the citizens. This isn’t the president’s country; it isn’t a dictatorship where we simply toil away to do his bidding, at least it doesn’t have to be. My president is leader who inspires people to step up and serve. My president makes me believe that change for the better is possible, not just change for change’s sake. My president involves people in the process even those he may not agree with because he doesn’t see himself as the decider but instead as an agent of change.
