Justus For All

I think Obama is caught between a rock and a hard place. He really doesn’t have enough experience to run for President now, but he will never have the momentum and appeal that he currently has.

He may as well run. If he fails he has a ready-made reason (The people decided that he wasn’t experienced enough) that will go away over time.

Some of that is true. Certainly history doesn’t show that Senators are in a great position to win the Presidency, so staying where he is won’t help.

I think he would be great as a VP slot, but I also expect that is only open to him with a Hillary ticket as most of the other Dem candidates are light on expirience as well, and will probably want experience. Even the Hillary ticket might be unlikely, is their any margin in having a black and a woman on the ticket? That is a whole lot more novelty than is needed.

Baring the VP route, he could go for a Governorship. That is the surest route to the Whitehouse, and he has a lot time since he is still young.

My guess is that entering the race won’t hurt him a lot, but if he gets out in front too much and then fizzles that could present future problems for him.

I think it’s a good thing for Obama to run. Along with Hilary, the biggest names I’ve seen tossed around are the likes of Al Gore and John Kerry, and I don’t think either of them is who the Democrats want to have as their candidate… they may be experienced, but I can’t see the public in general rallying behind them. For me personally, Gore and Kerry both failed to win me over.

I could be wrong, though… perhaps Gore or Kerry learned some lessons and will take a smarter approach.

Who I will really be interested to see if he runs is New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson… not that I think he would have a chance of securing the nomination, but because I think Richardson has some good ideas and seems willing to find the best solution possible. He’s not without his faults, but he seems like a person who, while holding true to his beliefs, will remain open minded to opposing viewpoints.

Of course, that’s also how Obama comes off to me. We’ll see how successful he is, but I think the Democrats need to not insist on “experience” too much as the majority of “experienced” Democrats I can think of do not strike me as being ideal for the Presidency.