Intellect vs. Intelligence
We would vote for the one for his intellect, the other for her intelligence. The other two candidates are simply creatures of the past, and have little or nothing original to tell us. We have much greater expectations of these two kids, still in their mid forties. It's too bad they're not competing for the same office and that we could decide between them. That would be thrilling.
Why thrilling? Because neither one is burdened by the past and when appropriate would probably have no problem adopting new and innovative solutions to old problems. And they would learn on the job, and it would be thrilling to watch them.
But should, you ask, the offices of the president and the vice president of these United States, ever be given to the inexperienced? Well it has often happened in the past that the winning candidates were not well qualified for the job, while there were always plenty of others not running who were. Furthermore, has it ever been shown that those not qualified, probably most of them, turned out better or worse in office than those few who were?
I don"t think so. But most important, these offices, and especially that of the president, will always require that the office holders, say Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, surround themselves with excellent advisers. The office holders will then base their own actions on the advice they get, so that the critical factor is the advice they obtain, not the job experience they come with.
We blame the last President Bush for the three greatest mistakes of his presidency, the Iraq war, the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Bill, and his actions, or lack of actions in response to Katrina. But we should blame his advisers. They gave bad advice, or no advice. OK, you'll say, he did choose these advisers, but is there any valid preparation for choosing the right people? You're able to do this sort of thing or you're not. Bush wasn't.
Obama by his great intellect, Palin by her obvious intelligence, do seem capable of choosing the right people. In Obama's case if he is elected we will learn whether or not this this is so. In Palin's case, as the vice presidential candidate, the best she might do in office would be to influence the choices of that old and good man she's running with. In the circumstances let's hope she does.
