Just caught a piece of the Fox News commentary on Kerry’s selection of a running mate. They were questioning his experience, since he has only been in the Senate since 1998, never holding an elected office prior to that. Gee, let’s see now…How many elected offices did the current President hold prior to becoming the highest-ranking person in the country? Oh, just the one? And how many years did he serve there? Five? Hmmm… I can see how the Fox folks would question the ability of a U.S. Senator with six years of experience in national politics but think a governor with five years of local politics is acceptable. Sure.
Oh, and for those of you outside Texas, the governorship here is largely ceremonial, except for all those death penalties they get to sign (152 in five years for Governor Bush).
The thing is, I’d vote for Edwards before I’d vote for Kerry. I considered voting for him in the primary, since by that point it seemed unlikely Dean was going to get very far. Edwards has a better senate record than Kerry, and besides, he’s much better looking.
Sadly, I think a majority of voters choose their candidate on looks or warm fuzzy feelings, rather than based on any idea of what the candidate will do once in office.