Carmel McCreary – 10/10/08

This page was last updated on October 10, 2008.

This election is about experience; Carmel McCreary; Beaver County Times; October 10, 2008.

Read the letter and you find the title’s (typically supplied by the Times) emphasis on “experience” is a tad misleading. Ms. McCreary wrote, “the focus needs to be on the critical issues facing our country and who is best qualified by experience and leadership qualities.”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Barack Obama is not guilty by questionable association, but he has exercised very poor judgment in his political climb.

“Most important is what is his experience and voting record in the Illinois legislature and the U.S. Senate. Charisma and oratorical skills are assets but not prerequisites to be president and commander-in-chief.

“John F. Kennedy, a World War II wounded hero, had both. He showed leadership qualities confronting Nikita Khrushchev in the Cuban missile crisis.

“Harry Truman, a World War I veteran, had neither charisma nor oratorical skills, but he has a steel backbone.

“He made historic decisions to use the atomic bomb and to desegregate the armed services, taking full responsibility by saying, ‘The buck stops here.’

“In this election, the focus needs to be on the critical issues facing our country and who is best qualified by experience and leadership qualities for the survival of our nation.

“John McCain has these qualities.”

[RWC] I agree with most of what Ms. McCreary wrote, but “experience” is not high on my list when the candidates’ economic, political, and social core principles are as different as they are with Messrs. McCain and Obama. Even if Mr. Obama had gobs of relevant experience, that would only make him a leftist with experience. In my book, principles trump experience.