McCain Says He’s Tested and Ready for a Crisis – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com
According to this article, in a statement last week or so Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Biden said that President Obama would certainly face an international crisis within the first six months of his presidency. McCain immediately jumped at the chance to attack Obama and his apparent lack of experience on the national stage, while citing his own readiness in protecting the nation.
I understand the political maneuver, however, what I don’t understand is how exactly McCain thinks he is prepared to handle these situations. He consistently says, “I’ve been tested” or “I know how to win wars.” I know he’s been in the military and seen his share of action, but to me that doesn’t constitute leadership experience or examples of ‘being tested’ – at least not to a greater extent over that of Obama. I’m unsure why the people (or the media for that matter) haven’t asked McCain what he means by his statements or at least provide examples to see where he’s basing his ideas. In one example from the article, McCain points to his involvement in the Cuban Missile crisis, (wow he’s old) however, in his own words he was sitting on a ship during the entire event. In my mind this does not make you ready to fend off a global conflict.
Earlier in the campaign cycle, President Clinton argued that no one can be absolutely ready for the job in the White House – alluding to the fact that there will always be a little on the job training. I see this as being fundamentally true as there is no substitute position to the commander in chief of the free world. In conclusion, I don’t buy McCain’s argument for his ‘better’ experience and I am quite bewildered that the media hasn’t called him out on his slogans before.
Interesting point here. Gen. Wesley Clark was pretty much flamebroiled for making the same suggestion about McCain’s experience.