Paul Ryan.... Really??

[Sandy]

[William Thornton]

[Tim Bonney]

LOL, William. That's a "have you stopped beating your wife" kind of question.

On one of the occasions we were in an Irish pub in Des Moines and so he talked about foreign policy and then told Irish stories, quoted Irish poetry, and quoted Irish authors. And given the number of Irish Americans present, if we could vote that day he'd be President instead of our current Irish President Barack O'Bama.

[Matto]

[Tim Bonney]

[Haruo]

[Matto]

[William Thornton]

[Haruo]

Maybe we could outsource education and the elderly and disabled. There's room for a lot of them in Chad. Manifest Destiny and all, y'know.

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

[Tim Bonney]

[William Thornton]

Timothy, you started this topic with a not-so-subtle bit of disdain towards the qualifications of Ryan for VP yet your PRESIDENTIAL candidate of 2008 had even less experience, and no experience in governing anything.

You might try an use an argument that you don't have to apologize for and for which you can demonstrate some consistency.

[Tim Bonney]

[William Thornton]

[Big Daddy Weaver]

Obama brought many qualities to the table that made him an attractive candidate and allowed a majority of voters to overlook his lack of experience (compared to McCain).

To paraphrase Paul Ryan, Barack Obama is an Idea. Four years later, Obama is an idea that I'm comfortable with and prefer over the other option. Also - as a side note about third parties - I personally believe that I have a moral obligation as a Christian citizen to participate in the political process as its exists in reality. That leaves me with two options for President.

The "experience" argument is a little like the military experience argument. Although the difference is that the bar doesn't move with the military. Either you served or you didn't. But the bar is often moved around when it comes to governing experience. Those that claimed last election that Obama wasn't qualified due to lack of experience had various ideas about what type of experience was necessary. There's no consistency in that argument either especially with a moving bar.

I'm not worried about Ryan's experience. Anyone who can make it to that stage and get elected is capable of surrounding himself with qualified people necessary to get the job done. I'm bothered by Ryan's ideas which are quite partisan and not exactly as bold as people want to claim. If you're not willing to be serious about military spending, are you really a budget hawk?

How can conservatives really get behind Romney? The guy converted to conservatism in his 50s. How can he be trusted? Romney is a heckuva bigger gamble or Republicans than Obama was for Democrats who were committed to Hillary.

[William Thornton]

It's a matter of consistency. One cannot offer disdain at VP candidate's supposed lack of experience without looking silly for favoring the last presidential candidate who lacked it.

Barack Obama is an idea. We have seen enough to understand that he is a bad idea. The republic would survive another four years of Obama and I suspect he will not be as bad as he could be if reelected.

And, Timothy, don't concern yourself with server space. I have been assured there is plenty enough to let you list all of Obama's experience. Let 'er rip, bro'.

[Tim Bonney]

[William Thornton]

[Tim Bonney]

OK. Here we go William.

Barack Obama's experience -

Graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School
Taught Constitutional Law from 1992 - 2004 (12 years)
He served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997-2004
He served in the US Senate from 2004-2008
He has served as president of the USA from 2008-2012.

So I see 12 years teaching the law and working in academia and I see 11 years of legislative experience before he was elected President.

Paul Ryan's Experience

Miami University, not a bad school. I used to live not far from there, it is a fairly run of the mill small University but it is no Columbia or Harvard. He earned a BA in Political Science and Economics
He worked as a Senator's aid and as a speech writer for Jack Kemp
Ryan has served in congress from 1998-2012 - approaching 16 years.

So I see a number of years working as an aid to a congressman and then being in congress.

All in all William if you want to compare Apples to Apples Ryan has spent a bit more time being a politician than Obama. But, he has a lot less education and a lot less background in the law and his experience is a lot less varied.

And that is what Republicans often do when looking at Obama. They discount his work in the Illinois legislature (11 years) and they discount his legal work, teaching, etc. as if he didn't exist before he ran for Senate.

[Tim Bonney]

And btw, the main reason I object to Ryan is his ideas for dismantling all the social safety nets that keep the poor, the aged, and others in need from disaster. Even if Ryan had been in the house 100 years I'd consider him a danger to our countries well being. Or I would if I didn't think that he is probably going to lose the election for Romney just by chasing off all the moderates and independents.

[Big Daddy Weaver]

Even those middle of the roaders who can vote Repub in one election and Democrat in another have to admit that Obama is at least a needed counter to the House of Representatives.

How "dangerous" and "radical" can Obama really be when we've got a Republican-controlled House that hates the idea of compromise as much as they hate their own President.

[KeithE]

[David Flick]

[Matto]