The Observation Deck

From 2004 to present he a member of the Foreign Relations committee,

You forgot to mention his experience as Chairman of the Subcommittee on European Affairs. Which has not convened or had a hearing (no policy) since Obama took over as its chairman last January.

Stephen Eisel wrote:
Governor Palin operates a $9 billion budget and manages $13 billion in revenue. She also runs a government that employs 25,000 people. I am not seeing this type of experience on Obama's resume.

So what about McCain's executive experience? He is the one running for President isn't he?

Danielle Masters wrote:

Stephen Eisel wrote:
Governor Palin operates a $9 billion budget and manages $13 billion in revenue. She also runs a government that employs 25,000 people. I am not seeing this type of experience on Obama's resume.

So what about McCain's executive experience? He is the one running for President isn't he?

Education:
National War College, 1973-1974
BS, United States Naval Academy, 1958.


Professional Experience:
Senate Navy Liaison, 1977-1981
Captain, United States Navy, Vietnam, 1958-1981
Beer Distributor.

Political Experience:
Senator, United States Senate, Arizona, 1987-present
Primary Candidate, United States President, 2000
National Security Adviser, Dole/Kemp Presidential Campaign, 1996
Representative, United States House of Representatives, 1982-1986.




Organizations:
Member, American Dream Political Action Committee, 1997-present
Member, Council on Foreign Relations, 1997-present
Honorary Board Member, Hispanic Youth Foundation, 1997-present
Honorary Board Member, The Leonard Cheshire Foundation, 1997-present
Honorary Member, Advisory Council, National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, 1997-present
Honorary Vice Chair, New Majority Council, 1997-present
Board of Trustees, Gallaudet University, 1995-present
Founding Member, Pacific Council on International Policy, University of South California, 1995-present
Chair, Board of Directors, International Republican Institute, 1992-present
Life Member, Navy League, 1987-present
Member, Air Force Sergeants Association
Member, The Alfalfa Club
Honorary Advisor Board, Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce
Honorary Co-Chair, Advisory Board of Directors, Arizona Cancer Research Foundation
Honorary Member, Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Complimentary Member, Association of the United States Army
Honorary Member, Barry Goldwater Foundation
Honorary Member, Fifty-Five Years and Up Incorporated
Honorary Member/Board of Regents, Francis Scott Key Foundation
Honorary Member, The John Goodwin Tower Center
Honorary Board Member, Kids Voting Arizona
Member, The Military Order of World Wars
Honorary Member, Mo Udall Foundation
Board of Directors, Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom
Member, Purple Heart Association
Member, The Retired Officers Association
Member, Sons of the Revolution in the State of Virginia
Member, United States Naval Academy Alumni Association
Member of Board of Visitors, United States Naval Academy
Honorary Member/Board of Directors/Council of Notables, United States-Spain Council
Member, Veterans of Foreign Wars
Member, Vietnam Veterans Association.

Caucuses/Non-Legislative Committees:
Environmental and Energy Study Conference
National Republican Senatorial Committee
Co-Chair, Porkbusters Coalition
Renewal Alliance
Senate Centrist Coalition
Senate Committee for American Indian College Fund
Senate Co-Chair, National Security Caucus
Senate Steering Committee
Senate Wilderness and Public Lands Caucus
Vietnam Veterans in Congress.

Committees:
Armed Services, Ranking Member
Commerce, Science & Transportation, Member
Indian Affairs, Member
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security, Member
Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Insurance, and Automotive Safety, Member
Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism, Member
Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation, Member
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security, Member

And which pieces of that list are executive experience?

It's a joke. Conservatives are as gaga over Palin as the left was with Obama, and for the same reason - experience be damned, both of them say the things people always wanted to hear a politician say and they sound reasonably credible doing it. Like Obama, people are seriously projecting things onto Palin that aren't there.
She's a talented politician with solid conservative bona-fides, but we've had almost two years to kick the tires on Obama. Two months might not be enough time to really get used to the idea of McCain-Palin.

Experience by itself isn't enough. You've got to look at what was done in that time, and the way the power was wielded. She's got enough questions about the liberties she took as mayor and Governor (not just the trooper scandal, but many more that I'll be happy to list if you need, but I'm also trying to finish up my work for the day ) that raise serious questions about her ability to check her own autocratic tendencies.

Stephen Eisel wrote: Governor Palin operates a $9 billion budget and manages $13 billion in revenue. She also runs a government that employs 25,000 people. I am not seeing this type of experience on Obama's resume.

Hmmm...does the fact that his near flawless campaign do any justice?

I mean, at least he didn't have people resigning over stupid decisions over the past year, and at least he's consistently shown better judgment than McCain has with his VP pick, his budget, his voting record, and on issues that are crucial in this election.

If you can beat the Clinton machine, I think you can beat the McCain brigade with class, dignity and honor...which is what Obama has been doing all along.

The right wing can attack Obama all they want, but at the end of the day McCain hasn't done anything to further himself away from Bush's policies and he has not made the case that he can be trusted with better judgment just by the way he has run his campaign so far.

Obama has pledged not to take public funding and he has one of the best run campaigns we have ever seen. Is he ever going to run out of money?

John McCain and Palin are drilling deep into pockets of big oil and corporations, which is the only way they are staying afloat.

It's not about resume as much as it is character and judgment. The candidates have a choice to do things the right way or the slimy way. Outside of his military service and POW experience, McCain has as much honor as Palin has experience. As for better judgment, which was one of his slogans until he picked Palin as his veep and stopped using it, McCain has worse judgment than Bush. In a election where the American people have the choice of a new leader or the same policies that have driven this country into recession, debt, war, poverty, and have burned any and all bridges towards other countries in the world, McCain has chosen to be the candidate that represents those policies. That's not what a maverick does, that's what a party-line puppet does.

if Palin is Vice-President, the commercial media will spend a lot of time going over what she is wearing, how she is styling her hair, what kind of make-up and shoes she is wearing. Stuff a man president rarely goes through. It is inescapable.

Palin supported the 'Bridge to Nowhere':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA7WrCipkck

And which pieces of that list are executive experience?

It's a joke.

LOL the joke would be Obama's resume compared to Mccain's...McCain's time in the military as an officer would be his executive experience..

Senate Navy Liaison, 1977-1981
Captain, United States Navy, Vietnam, 1958-1981

Hmmm...does the fact that his near flawless campaign do any justice?

LOL... No....

Senate Navy Liaison... know what that means? He was essentially a lobbyist for the Navy, wining and dining Senators so they'd vote the right way on big appropriations bills.

Also, McCain didn't achieve the rank of Captain until he was named as Liaison.

We can do this all day long. When it comes down to it, you look at the decisions McCain HAS made, the rhetoric he's using today (because it's even different than it was a few years ago), his personality and demeanor and decide who's got the judgement and principles you trust the most.

Brian Pedaci wrote:Senate Navy Liaison... know what that means? He was essentially a lobbyist for the Navy, wining and dining Senators so they'd vote the right way on big appropriations bills.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/29/ ... mccain.php

Yeah, Stephen, I read that article too.

Love these quotes:

One of several military liaisons assigned to the Senate as advocates for their services and escorts for official travel, McCain quickly emerged as the senators' favorite. He had a thick head of hair as white as his dress uniform and he showed a natural politician's gift for winning over an audience. He excelled at leavening official business with a spirit of fun - telling deadpan stories about his years "in the cooler," playing marathon poker games on flights overseas or surprising senators at a refueling stop in Ireland with a side trip to Durty Nelly's, a 17th-century pub. He was the epitome of cool, one senator's son recalled, with a pack of Marlboros in one hand and Theodore White's memoir "In Search of History" in the other.

But Admiral James Holloway, the chief of naval operations, saw other uses for McCain. Holloway knew that McCain's father had once excelled as liaison to the Senate. And though the son had earned a reputation as a playboy at the U.S. Naval Academy, Holloway thought then-Commander McCain might have inherited the skills and judgment needed to deal with senators.

"He could smoke a cigar and play a little poker," Holloway recalled in an interview. "But he didn't let the situation get out of hand."

A 2006 63-page Democratic research document says that Palin "Is Too Socially Conservative for Libertarian Alaska" and her management style is to "Bully and Demand Political Loyalty"...

http://tinyurl.com/6nw8eb

On military experience, the edge goes to McCain big time.. You can make light of what John has accomplished. But that does not change the fact that Obama does not have any military credentials.

Honestly, is this the best that we can do? (for candidates for President)