Paul Mirengoff at Powerline argues that Barack Obama is the candidate with the scantiest credentials to be President in (recent) American history.
To which I can only ask, What about George W. Bush?
Yes, Bush had been governor of Texas–a relatively powerless role, after a career of nepotistic business failures–but he came to the White House proudly and defiantly unaware of the rest of the world. Obama has actually lived in another country–Indonesia, when he was a child–but more important, he is a student of history, has an excellent working knowledge of foreign policy issues and, as his early opposition to the Iraq war proves, has a judicious sense of the limits of American power. Obama doesn’t have much experience with military affairs, but he’ll learn.
And that, in the end, is what made Bush lack the “credentials” to be President–not so much the lack of experience, but the lack of knowledge and curiosity.
Least Qualified?
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