Is Obama Ready For Presidency?

At this point, I'm sure most of us realize that the presidential nominees aren't all that great. In my opinion, none of them stand out. However the one a lot of people see as the "big man" is the up and coming Democrat Barack Obama. Supporters like him for one of three reasons. His campaign theme of "Change" , his speaking ability, or, let's face it, his race. However his opposers have a lot of ammunition against him, like his extremely controversial pastor, his wife who claims to have never been proud to be an American, and most of all, his lack of experience. He hasn't been a politician for very long, and a lot of people think that he isn't ready to be president. So what do you guys think?

 

Experience does not necessarily mean quality. Someone could have 20 years experience and still be a crappy president, so that argument is kinda out (Although, I'm not saying that experience should be ignored).

As for his wife saying that she was never really proud to be American, who cares? I often wonder at the almost zealotry approach a lot of Americans take to their "National Pride". Yes, if you believe that your country has earned your respect then you can feel proud to live there, otherwise its your choice. Also, if the American people are going to be so fickle and shallow that they would count something like that when they are voting, then no decent candidate has much hope >_>

The pastor could be said to have had a fair point (wasn't it something to do with American having an attack like 9/11 coming?) and voters can have their own opinions on that. But, again, they are not Obamas opinions, and so should not be treated as such.

Politics is ******ed >_>

 

I don't see his speeches and I don't know exactly if he is "ready" perse. But I will say that it won't surprise me if something happens and he messes up. We already know that from past presidents.

 

i would say no. for one thing he's a Senator (which is what all the candidates this time around were). in my opinion, i don't feel that Senators make good Presidents because all they do is pass or fail bills. that doesn't make them any more qualified to be President. i feel as though Governors or hell, even a mayor would be better suited for the job because they had real experience running a city/state. that is what makes them more qualified. and not to sound like a smear campaign person, but he voted present god knows how many times on the issues that really matter. voting present means he is neutral or has no opinion on the bill. a lot of people overlook the fact that he's inexperienced but they wouldn't overlook it if it were someone else. i actually don't really support Mc Cain either, but for now, i just think he's a safer bet than Obama, think of it not as me voting FOR Mc Cain, but voting AGAINST Obama. it's nothing personal, just think of it as being an employer looking at a possible employee's resume.

 

I find it amusing people are saying he's not ready when our own founders of the country were not all that old when they took office. He's as 'ready' as anyone else is. The job is a big job but if he's smart he will set himself up a strong cabinet and be just fine. Really, the candidates all have stuff on one another and where Obama had a fiery black pastor, McCain has proven to have a fiery white pastor. Obama's wife also was taken out of context and I would think her saying she was never proud of America till now...which was meant to be 'I was never -more- proud of America than now' is not as bad as saying 'I was under sniper fire in Bosnia' or 'you should wear a flag on your lapel' when in fact McCain and other Reps weren't wearing them when they would say it. No politician is going to be 'perfect' so we may as well get that out of our heads now.

I don't think he's any less prepared than McCain is and either could do a decent job that won't make me move to Canada tomorrow. However, if Huckabee or Romney is VP...or Hillary...I think the chances of them doing a decent job is reduced.

 

It doesn't take much to be president in my opinion.
:/
Anyways, I guess that means I think he is ready.

He does have a few traits that I see to be fitting for a president, though.

 

Er, right . . . well, no one is really “ready†to be president, ever. It's a big, complicated job, no matter how inane and pointless people might think it is, and you cannot really have enough or proper experience to become the president in the first place. Obama's lack of experience in politics would seem like a downer to many [and it obviously does, from the looks of it], and more experience would be considered something good in his case, but it still doesn't mean that he isn't qualified to become the president. So you have some experience in politics, so what? You just know your politics by heart. Understanding American politics isn't all that difficult, as the system is not all that difficult to take in. If one already understands how the politics work, there technically does not need to be a proper amount of experience to become the president. Besides, the positions under the president, and the actual position of a president do differ.

Many chose McCain merely because he's old, and therefore he has more experience . . . and I find that a little hilarious. Really? If the public were only to look at experience, then what is the point of looking at the ideas and views of the nominees? They can ramble on and on about what they'd do to make the country a better place while the public only thinks experience. What matters here are the ideas, and if the future president will be able to stick to his words.

 

As far as presidential candidates go, you said it, none of them are ideal. However, the problem with Obama in my opinion is in no way his lack of experience. No one running for president (barring those up for re-election) has experience being president, and even so, experience in no way determines quality.

As with what Pyro said about the experience, if that's all you're going to look at, what's the point of the entire campaign with views on certain issues?

I'd certainly say that if one's going to question Obama's "readiness" to be president, they should take into consideration that experience doesn't mean a better president. Another thing I don't understand is how people count time spent in war as "experience" for one running for president. In no way does being a soldier effect the capabilities of someone for president. I suppose it's all about "having served our country." Everything's about image here, anyway.
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Actually, there are things that do make you more qualified, first of all leadership experience is a MUST, that's why i feel as though governors and mayors make better leaders because they actually have ACTUAL leadership experience. senators, not so much, all a senator does is decide "pass/fail/present(neutral)", which shows little to no good qualities about that person. but that's not all people look at, when i decided who to vote for i looked up the voting records of these senators. the reason i don't think Obama is ready for is if you look at his voting record, he votes present (neutral) SO MANY TIMES on the issues and bills that actually matter. yes he did run a good campaign by sticking to a consistent message and saying stuff everyone wants to hear. but that's not enough. also, his speeches don't give us much insight into his views on issues, he just blabs on about change in an attempt not to alienate anyone. i hate to sound like a smear campaign but he's just not ready.

 

No. He's not that young, many beg to differ but he's old enough to meet the requirements for president so he can't be young. He may be new to politics but time doesn't necessarily equate to experience, and experience doesn't equate to being a good politician. He's never been a president, nor has he ever had to care about reelection, he's never had to talk about anything other than how much he believes in his own form of change, and he most certainly has never had the entire U.S. military under his control. He may know in theory what he's going to do, but it won't mean anything if he can't actually handle it, a thing that is much doubted by some. So, will he be a good president if elected? No idea. Is he ready for the job? As ready as anyone could be, so not at all.

 

well experience shouldn't be the deciding factor but it is NOT something we should completely disregard either........

 

So can anyone remind me who our president has been for the past 8 years?...

 

i don't understand what you're trying to say. please, when you're trying to make a point connect the dots for us, don't assume we will or can all the time.

 

Bush..President..are you proud for what he's said and done?..I haven't met anyone who is.

 

OOOH, of course not. but that doesn't mean i'm not proud to be an American because Bush doesn't represent ALL Americans (at least i hope not)

 

At many points he must have represented the fair majority of Americans, considering he got voted in twice =]

As Douglas Adams once said "Those who most want to lead, are those least suitable for the job"

I also think that he is as ready as he is ever going to be (probably ;D)

 

I can see why people think Obama is not ready but at the same time, age to me isn't a factor in deciding these things. Life experience is. There are certainly some 20 year olds that have their heads screwed on tighter than some 60 year olds I've met and are also a lot more open minded. Obama is 45 or something years old. Also, he has life experience dealing with other cultures and does understand 3rd world scenarios better than most of the people in our senate or power structure. He went and volunteered and lived within that sort of nature. He does understand poverty, living without electricity and luxuries etc. He didn't just go to Kenya as a kid and have tea parties. He lived the life and learned to mesh in with the culture, which unfortunately spawned pictures and accusations he was Muslim and it gets taken to town.

He also has lived in various parts of our country and worked diligently through college, met with various people and lived the middle class and upper middle class life style. He had to also take a lot of college to become acclimated with American Politics etc.

Yes, he hasn't the age under his belt of McCain, but that also means he's not going to be so opinionated that he's 'always right' either. You can't tack on 'real life' experiences over 'occupations' apparently or 'degrees' which kind of is a saddening thing in this time. Someone can be taught to fix vehicles yet without a degree, they shouldn't touch them, etc. Paper doesn't validate the type of life you have had. It helps prove it but really, we focus too much.

Also, experience is not the 'only' qualification for a president. Intellect and adaptability are also important to me to see in a candidate. Knowledge of the rules is too. McCain can be seen as just as wishy washy on some issues as Obama can and he has age on his side. Age is a number. He has 30 some years work in the senate. Well, he's had time to prove he's wishy washy over the years just as much as Obama is. Bush had experience and look where it led us. Experience is overrated and I think it also anymore equates to 'more of the same bull' going on. I'm not all zealous about 'change' etc but I am wanting to see someone get in who at least isn't the typical run of the mill sort with no aspirations but to keep things as they have been. Whether Republican or Democrat, some Presidents have made inspiration happen and given us better times. Others have sank us into a pit of depravity and are just out of touch with regular people and our problems, let alone the conditions overseas. Having tea parties and meeting with leaders is one thing. It doesn't mean someone gets the lifeway of other places. I in the end just can't see how he's less prepared than McCain is and feel confident both of them can do the job at least semi-decently should either win. At least I trust a bit more in them than I do in the other candidates that were running formerly.

 

I don't think it's ever a matter whether they are "ready" for the job or not. It's if they are the right person for Presidency. Unfortunately, neither Obama and McCain are. Obama has alot of great, new ideas, but he's too wishy-washy. For example, in front of many Jews, he said "I stand for a united Jerusalem." Then, in front of many Arabs and Muslims, he took it all back and said that wasn't really what he meant. He's going to bend over backwards and nobody will end up knowing what he really stood for in the first place. And McCain wants us in Iraq, and I quote, for "100 years." I don't think that people will be able to pay taxes anymore if this war goes on for that long, plus he has a high chance of dying in office, and he still wants the No Child Left Behind Act to focus on testing instead of actual skills or learning abilities. Politics makes no sense to me anymore. I used to think it was really a Black & White kind of deal (no pun intended), but everythings changing. Maybe we do need another Ice Age so everything can just start over.

 

Honestly, I don't think so. With what...2-3 years in the Senate...I don't think that would get anyone far when being president.


I hate debating politics since I don't understand about half of it anyway, so I'll end it with this. When it comes to Obama and McCain, I think we're screwed both ways.

 

Holy crap this is a late reply… but since I’ve hardly been here, so why not…

Well, experience in leadership is of course an absolute MUST, as well as experience as a general topic, and in the case of proper leadership experience, governors and mayors do take the top spot without question [unless they have some major flaw]. Well, in the case of Obama, he does lack the leadership experience, but the ability to lead often comes naturally [this is such a weak point/argument], but we cannot solely rely on that either, and hope that Obama will become a great leader by luck [though it seems people seem to be gambling on that part right now]. However, leadership experience is not the only thing we should take in consideration when choosing the president of our country. As you say, his ability to make a decision is also something important, as the nation’s problems cannot be solved by voting neutral. Aside from leading, presidency comes with so many responsibilities, those which one cannot truly prepare for until presidency. I’ve honestly not been paying much attention to what Obama has been saying so far in his speeches, but I’m sure he’s somehow shown the public that he is well capable of leading a country, otherwise the public is just blindly following him. But to make it this far in his campaign, he’s got some skills, I cannot deny that.

Lastly, the part that I made bold in your post::
Is that not what EVERY candidate does when running for a post, to blab about change and equality? It’s only to gain support from the public, nothing more than a persuasive speech or argument. Every candidate does that, and it really depends if he really goes through with the ideas and views after he has gained the post.

So with that, I suppose I can say that he is just as ready as any other candidates.