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The Hillary Clinton Standard of Experience


I've had enough of the "Hillary Clinton's 35 years of experience" argument, claiming that she has foreign policy and other experience that Obama does not.  Hillary Clinton is my Senator. She's got a half term more experience than Barack Obama.  Sure, I'm bitter about jobs she promised Western New York State and never delivered on, (unless you count outsourcing to India from a Buffalo home base) but I honestly think that she's blowing this "experience" out of proportion.


As much as I'm not a fan of hers, I would never short Clinton on her accomplishments. She's a smart, motivated, accomplished woman.  --But I've had enough of her touting her experience. Again, she's my Senator, a one and a half term Senator. THAT is her experience.  --and personally I don't feel she's represented my portion of the State very well.

For her to say that she has all of this experience is as the nice janitor at my work place would call it: bull-hockey. Being married to someone with on-the-job experience doesn't give you the experience. If Laura Bush were running, I doubt Democrats would be praising HER experience.

By Hillary Clinton's definition, you gather experience from osmosis from other people's experience.  I'm happy to start using her definition.  I feel like I've many worthwhile experiences in my crazy life, but by Hillary's classifications, I can do anything. Apparently if you sleep with someone, you not only sleep with everyone that person has slept with, but you experience all of their experiences.

I invite you to reply with your own Hillary-esque experience by osmosis.  Here are some of mine.

Me, I've dated two cellists.  I must have written Handel's "Messiah."

I've dated a woman who worked on some pretty major Hollywood films. I'm an Oscar nominee.

I hooked up with a  college professor, I must have my PhD.

I've dated several single mothers, and am an expert in childhood development.

I've slept with adult entertainers. I must be eligible for an Adult Video News award.

I've done it on a boat, I'm the friggin' commander of the Navy.

I dated a Goth girl. I am a vampire.  I've dated a hippy chick. I was in the Grateful Dead.

I've dated several certifiably insane women, I'm an expert in mental health.

I've dated women on drugs. I wrote "Trainspotting."

I could go on and on. By these standards, I'm a Washington Lobbyist, related to a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a State Police officer, a Judge, an expert in climate change, finance and bats, and so very much more.

I had ice cream with Bill Clinton and Al Gore once.  Am I more qualified that Hillary Clinton to  be your next President? By Hillary's standards, I think many of us are just as "experienced."

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Actually, Hillary has LESS experience in office than Obama. While she's served a half term longer in the U.S. Senate, Obama served in the Illinois State Senate before becoming a U.S. Senator. Obama has slightly less experience than Bill Clinton did when he was elected president. Personally, I don't care about her experience all that much anyway. Her vote to invade Iraq proves that bad judgment trumps experience any day.

As Nick Kristof notes, the most experienced politician in Washington is Cheney, but that certainly does not save him from being the most incompetent.

Indeed, there are parallels to the argument. In spite of all the experience, Hillary's vote on the bankrupcy bill, which has only exascerbated the mortgage financial crisis, and her vote on Iraq, which we could forgive had it not been for her subsequent vote for Kyle Lieberman, all prove that in spite of all the experience she brags about, she doesn't learn from it.

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chautauquan

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