Experience

Remember those job interviews where you were told you lacked experience? You know, the ones that were entry-level in your field to begin with. If I can't get the job, how do I get the experience? How do I prove that I've got enough training and talent to do the job without it?

I think about those interviews every time I see McCain or Clinton question Obama's experience. If anyone called them too old to be president, then there would be an outcry about the ageism. Nobody every questions a "lack of experience" statement. It's not like any of them have been President before.

Perhaps I'm of that age where I see the value of experience and the power of youth in the right handsPerhaps, it's also personal experience.

In my last job, I worked with a lot of solid individuals. Our top person, the one with the most skill, natural leadership, talent and sheer brain power was only 23. He was taking a few years in business so he could build a network of professionals to help him get into the best graduate program. He was amazing. He was my only "peer" in the department that could be promoted and garner my immediate respect and support. Yes, he didn't know everything. He didn't let that slow him down. He used his resources. He and I would have long talks where he would grill me on my perspective about the world as an "experienced" person. He listened, he absorbed and then he made his own decisions.

I do not deny that my friend could use some more life-experience. But his readiness to lead was self-evident even without it. Perhaps he's the exception to the rule, but I also know that so-called experienced people can rely on tired old methods to deal with problems without looking for new and better solutions.

I simply believe that Obama's leadership and direction as being far superior to the experience of McCain & Clinton.