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Politics

Is Obama too untried for White House bid?

As the Illinois senator heads toward a 2008 run, his lack of experience looms as an issue.

By BILL ADAIR
Published January 17, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Getty Images] Sen. Barack Obama has only 10 years as an elected official. Related content A look at past presidents' experience Bill Maxwell column: Senator, you better walk before you run (10/29/06) America's label game misses diversity of race (8/1/04)

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama is a bestselling author, a gifted orator and a star in the Democratic Party. But as he prepares to run for president, his political resume is a little thin.

Obama, who filed papers Tuesday to create a presidential exploratory committee, has only eight years in the Illinois Legislature and two in the U.S. Senate. Is he qualified for the nation's highest office?

Many Democrats think so. They say Obama is such a thoughtful, inspiring political leader that his lack of experience won't matter.

"He brings a freshness to Washington that would be very helpful," said Kris Schultz, a party activist serving as communications director for DraftObama.org, an independent group urging him to run.

Experience isn't all it's cracked up to be, Schultz said.

"We had one of the most experienced administrations in modern history with Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and look what it brought us," she said.

But others question whether Obama, 45, has the necessary credentials, especially on foreign policy.

"I'm like a lot of other Democrats," said Steve Jarding, a strategist for Democratic candidates. "I'm intrigued. I really like this guy. But he's not been tested, he doesn't have the depth of experience, especially with foreign policy."

Obama said he is exploring a presidential run because be believes Washington needs fresh leadership.

"It's not the magnitude of our problems that concerns me the most. It's the smallness of our politics," he said in a speech that was e-mailed to supporters.

His message left little doubt that he would run, but he said he would make his official announcement on Feb. 10.

Obama, the son of a black African father and a white American mother, graduated from Columbia University with a political science degree. He got a law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Law Review.

After law school, he directed a voter registration group, worked as a civil rights attorney and taught at the University of Chicago.

He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996 and then to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

Voters often say they want a president with experience, but it's a difficult concept to quantify.

Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford each had 24 years in Congress, plus experience in the military and each served briefly as vice president.

Others, such as Dwight Eisenhower and Ulysses S. Grant, had military experience, but had not served in elected office before they became president.

If you include Obama's eight years in the Illinois Senate and the four years he will have served in the U.S. Senate by the 2008 election, he would have a total of 12 years of elected experience, which would rank him just behind John F. Kennedy 13.

But pollsters and political strategists say experience as a governor or member of Congress probably matters more to voters than experience in a state legislature.

So if you remove Obama's time as a state senator, it would leave him with just four years in elected office, ranking him just behind George W. Bush and Theodore Roosevelt.

Karl Struble, a Democratic media consultant, said the number of years is not as important as whether Obama can convince voters he is ready for the White House.

"Having the judgment and intellect are far more important than having sat in a position of experience," Struble said.

Republican pollster Neil Newhouse said Obama can overcome his lack of experience with strong performances during interviews and presidential debates, especially on foreign affairs.

"For the most part, it can be erased by showing expertise, unless you come up against a guy like John McCain who has thick resume on these matters," Newhouse said.

Last fall, when Obama was asked on Meet the Press if he was ready to be president, he replied:

"Well, I'm not sure anybody is ready to be president before they're president. You know, ultimately, I trust the judgment of the American people that, in any election, they sort it through. And that's, you know, we have a long and rigorous process, and, you know, should I decide to run, if I ever did decide to run, I'm confident that I'd be run through the paces pretty good, including on Meet the Press."

Times researcher Angie Holan contributed to this report. Bill Adair can be reached at adair@sptimes.com or (202) 463-0575.

[Last modified January 17, 2007, 05:39:12]