Competence

[kmusser]

madamruppy made a comment about wanting competence from my politicians. Now I won't go that far, if they were at all competent they'd know better than to become politicians in the first place, but I do hope that they will surround themselves with competent people.

I think Obama does that. Sure I'd like someone with more experience, but he at least strikes me as the kind of guy that when he encounters something he doesn't know he'll find someone that does and listen to them. He likes being informed. He'll accept advice. If he makes a mistake he'll admit it and apologize. I see that as a good thing.

Bush is notorious for prizing loyalty over any semblance of competence, and as in many things McCain appears to be following in his footsteps. His staff seems to be made up of complete idiots that regularly make blunders on his behalf. McCain seems to take a certain pride in being ill-informed and his staff will defend anything he says even when he contradicts himself or makes obvious mistakes. I don’t know why people think he’ll be an effective president when he can’t effectively run a political campaign.

I’ll add that part of my faith in Obama is his association with David Axelrod. I got to meet Axelrod while I was in high school and he came to lecture for our political science class, he struck then as a remarkably intelligent, competent, and trustworthy person. That he thinks Obama is the real deal was a big part of what convinced me.