"I like McCain. I respect McCain. But I am a little worried by his knee-jerk response factor. I think it is a little scary. I think this guy's first reactions are not necessarily the best reactions. I believe that he acts on impulse."
--Major General Paul Eaton, a Clinton supporter
"I studied leadership for a long time during 32 years in the military. It is all about character. Who can motivate willing followers? Who has the vision? Who can inspire people? I have tremendous respect for John McCain, but I would not follow him."
--Major General Scott Gration, an Obama supporter
"One of the things the senior military would like to see when they go visit the president is a kind of consistency, a kind of reliability. [Obama is] not that up when he is up and not that down when he is down. He is kind of a steady Eddie. This is a very important feature. [On the other hand] McCain has got a reputation for being a little volatile."
--General Merrill McPeak, an Obama supporter
Language, Communion, Trinity, and Stupid Ways to Kill Time
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Yesterday's post got too unwieldy and ended in a train wreck, while this
morning I overslept. Perhaps I can comb through yesterday's wreckage and
salvage...
2 hours ago
3 comments:
Here's how I think Obama should respond to the Clinton ad and the idea of McCain being the most-able and -experienced guy on foreign policy.
Obama should make an TV commercial where they show sleeping children and a family at night. Only instead of having the red phone answered after six rings, like in the Clinton commercial, Barack answers it in the middle of the first ring and immediately, maturely makes things happen. In the voice-over, it tells us Obama will act vigorously, with the brightest and best appointed to Cabinet positions and other positions of high authority [as opposed to Bush], without anger [McCain] or psychodrama [Clinton]. Tagline: "Obama will make us safe."
Tom, I think Obama ought to hire you as a political consultant and let you make that ad. Great idea!
The cover of the March 10 Time magazine shows the back of Obama's head and asks "How much does experience matter?"
The answer is that experience doesn't matter much. If you're too experienced, you get rutted in your ways and your brain can become unalert. If you're totally inexperienced, you can get rattled -- so, obviously, that's not good. a job like president plays on a lot of experience you can have gathered. What's important for a job like president is to be plastic and nimble and to be willing to stretch yourself.
I think Obama would be an excellent president, but I guess it is true that he needs to understand some of the blunders that Bill Clinton made at the beginning of his presidency and avoid similar over-reaches.
Thanks, nagarjuna. I DO think my Obama commercial idea is a good one. If I get hired as a consultant, I'll send you your 10% commission.
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