It's becoming a problem in America. If Hillary Clinton were to win the 2008 election it would mark the sixth consecutive presidential election won by members of one of two families, the Bushes and the Clintons. Of the three leading Democratic contenders for the nomination, one has served seven years in the Senate, one six, and one three. Of the three, only Obama has any political experience at all outside of being in the Senate unless you count Clinton's time served as first lady where her main accomplishment was offering a disastrous health care proposal. The leading Republican candidate has never served in a national or gubernatorial office and resigned the Iraq Study Group to give paid speeches. Meanwhile candidates like Biden, who has been a Senator for 34 years and is Chairman of Foreign Relations, and Richardson, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times and has served as UN Ambassador, Secretary of Energy and Governor of New Mexico, are struggling mightily to gain traction. Why?
We're developing a sort of rotating cult of personality in America. Experience is beginning to matter less in a President than his celebrity, substance less than appearance. It's a dangerous phenomenon and one with no ready solution. That's because the easiest way to fix the problem is for the media to start doing a better job of more accurately portraying the candidates and of treating the race less as a popularity contest and more as a serious decision. But the media, and its obsession with celebrity and ratings and entertainment, is the chief cause behind this phenomenon in the first place and shows no sign of change. Making the ability to raise money a much less important part of the equation would also help, but there's very little hope of that happening either. I admit, this is one of many problems I just don't see a solution to.
I will say this, though. Next time you hear someone say they don't know whether or not to support Obama because he's so inexperienced, point out that his two main rivals only have three years more experience than he does in the Senate, and that he's served in government longer than either of them. Mention Richardson's credentials, especially about the Nobel Prize nominations, I bet that will wow some people. Maybe working together, we can offset this disturbing trend.