EXPERIENCE COUNTS? 

It’s been said that McCain has the leadership experience needed to be President and that Obama doesn’t. Now there is this hot debate over Palin’s experience. What kind of experience are they talking about?  The job of President is unique; no candidate has ever had experience at it, unless he was running for a second term! George W started with no experience and high poll numbers. The more experience he gained the more the electorate judged him unfit for the office.

The experience that candidates bring to the table is their Life Experience. The way in which each of us reacts to his or her life experience determines our Worldview. How does a President-Elect deal with his or her inevitable lack of governing experience? He or she immediately surrounds himself with men and women who share his Worldview and are capable formulating and executing policy. Thus, a Neo-con will surround himself with Neo-con technocrats. If a religious extremist wins, he or she will surround himself with the kind of advisors he identifies with.

I write as the founder of S.O.U.L., Spiritual Order of Unconditional Love, a New Hampshire Nonprofit organization. As such, I cannot endorse or attack specific candidates. What I can do is help clarify the debate. Voters must first judge the candidates they support to be temperamentally, ethically and intellectually suited for the delicate and demanding position of President. Beyond that, they should vote for the candidate who most closely shares their own Worldview. That way they will get a government that does what they want it to do, and doesn’t do what they don’t want it to do.

For example, if you believe that Comprehensive Healthcare is a privilege that must largely be paid for by the recipient or his employer, vote for McCain. If, on the other hand, you feel that Healthcare is a basic Human Right we all share, regardless of our ability to pay, vote Obama!

I can make similar distinctions between McCain and Obama over other issues, but I will now concentrate on an overlooked issue. Sarah Palin is a Conservative Christian Fundamentalist. She could be one 72-year-old heartbeat away from assuming the office of President. She denies that Global Warming is caused by human activity, and wants Polar Bears taken off the Endangered Species list. She opposes abortion, even after rape or incest. One item of faith that all conservative fundamentalists share is their extreme disapproval of other faiths or philosophies. God, they believe, condemns all wrong-believers to an eternity in the Lake Of Fire. They view Middle East Muslims as their Satanic adversaries in the prophesied battle of Jerusalem (Armageddon).

Voters who agree with that worldview are already electrified by her addition to the Republican ticket. If, on the other hand, the thought of such a team determining our policies in those ancient Biblical hotspots, and having their fingers on the nuclear trigger makes you just a bit nervous, you may want to consider voting for Obama.