Experience and Judgment

When people accused Barack Obama about his manifest lack of experience, Obama basically conceded the point. He said it wasn't about experience but about judgment. Now comes Sarah Palin to shake up the presidential race, and suddenly the Obama campaign is harping, not about her judgment, but her experience. Stooping to counting days actually served (Obama has apparently served a few more), they say Palin is too green to serve "a heartbeat away" from the presidency.

However, Palin has Obama beat on both experience and judgment. Experience: She is an elected mayor and governor, two executive positions the community organizer and state senator from Chicago never sniffed. She also has a record of accomplishment he can't touch. Judgment: Obama has proposed all sorts of expensive programs for children, yet he has supported bills to kill children outside the womb who have survived attempted abortions. Palin, meanwhile, elected to carry a Down syndrome child to term in her own body and raise that child herself. Now that's judgment. (And experience.)

Obama vs. King

Barack Obama, trying to raise the ghost of Martin Luther King Jr., last night delivered the week's third best speech at the Democratic National Convention. King's "I Have a Dream" speech 45 years beforte was soaring, nonpartisan, and appealed to our better angels. Obama's, despite the grand setting, was workmanlike, a little mean, and sought to tell Americans that the country is in dire straits. The best thing about it was that Obama was there as the Democratic presidential nominee, a symbol of how far the nation has come on the road to racial reconciliation.

Obama's key selling point is an idea, a hope. He is a symbol in a suit, and there is great pressure now to vote for that symbol and expiate one's sin. But look inside the suit and you will find an articulate, inexperienced, intelligent liberal.

Is that what we really want in a president during these dangerous times?

Tough Questions

The Obama campaign tried to answer some lingering questions about the candidate last night. Bill Clinton said he's ready to lead (after saying the opposite a few months ago). And Joe Biden said he can connect with "working people" (I guess I don't work). But there is one lingering question that came up:

Is Biden's mom tougher than Obama?

B and B

Question: What, according to Hillary Clinton, is the difference between Barack Obama and Bill Clinton?

Answer: Not much, but at least Obama received her endorsemment.

Last Hurrah

Seeing Ted Kennedy onstage last night helps to temper my own partisanship. Here is a man who sees the end in sight and who wants to live well to the end. May we all do the same.

Obama's Missed Opportunity

Senator Obama's selection of Joe Biden seems to be just what the Republicans ordered. It is a fairly open admission that Obama's foreign policy resume is so thin that you'd need to find it with a scanning electron microscope. (In fact, not that many months ago Biden himself said that Obama didn't have enough experience to be president.) The presence of old-hand Biden on the ticket also undercuts Obama's key selling point, which is change. Biden brings the average age of the ticket way up, and presents an opening for McCain to bring in someone that the country can really get excited about.

Further, the choice of Biden over Hillary Clinton can only be interpreted by the many who voted for her as a snub. Finally, it shows Obama's insecurity: Biden is no young, rising star in the party; apparently, the junior senator from Illinois is nervous about sharing the spotlight with someone who might upstage him. Democrats and the media may outwardly praise this choice, but inwardly I find it hard to believe that they can view it as anything but a missed opportunity.

Rich

Barack Obama, the candidate of change who criticized McCain for going negative, is now attacking his Republican opponent for being rich and out of touch. Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black?

Assuming the Worst

Don't assume the worst. If it is the worst, you'll know soon enough. If it isn't, you'll have given yourself some needless worry. And remember that a loving God is in control, so even if the worst happens, it can be redeemed.

Rules for Living

No. 7: Sometimes the best thing you can do is do nothing.

Spiritual Journeys

We often hear people talk about their "spiritual journeys." This is all well and good, but let's not forget that each spiritual journey ends up in only one of two places. Let's help people find the right destinnation.

Kid Wisdom

"I know how to share. But sometimes I choose not to."

Quality Time

Given the fact that over the long haul we'll all be dead anyway, I would choose a quality life rather than mere long life. Ultimately it's not how many days we're given, but what we do with the days we have received.

Kid Wisdom

"I have plenty of wisdom. It's just that sometimes I choose not to use it."

Changing the Drill

Barack Obama has bowed to political reality and allowed for the possibility of doing more drilling. I wonder if he will follow through if he wins the White House. His instinct seems to be that high prices are good because they will force us to conserve. Drilling, on its own, goes against this impulse.

Perhaps this is simply another change we can believe in?

Barack's Game?

Barack Obama, the "transracial" candidate who helpfully warns us that John McCain is going to say that the junior senator from Illinois doesn't "look like" the presidents on our cash, is beginning to find a racist behind every bush. Isn't that Jesse Jackson's game?