# Barack Obama: Too young/new to be President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 15, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540 "2006-10-15T16:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/81 "2006-11-01T20:27:38Z")
Dewey ,if he won, I believe would have been 42. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/82 "2006-11-01T20:45:48Z")
**greyhairedone** , what if who they want to convince is _themselves_? Honestly I think that skin color matters less than many think. Culture matters. Being able to identify with the person matters. Sometimes skin color and name travels with that but sometimes it does not. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/83 "2006-11-01T21:23:59Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] Was reading this article on BA in [Time](http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/15/cover.story.tm/index.html) , and was wondering…is Obama REALLY too new/young to make a serious run for president in the next election? Not much of an OP (its sunday morning and I’m totally hung over :)), I know…just want to hear why he is or is not too new, and what his realistic chances might be. -XT [/QUOTE] (Haven’t read the rest of the thread yet) Yes, I definitely think his resume is too small as of right now. I’m of a mind that if you’re going to win the Presidency, it’s going to be the very first time you run. If I was a young politician like Barack Obama I’d be doing exactly what he is doing, testing the waters and sort of getting a feel for things, but not seriously running for maybe two more elections. I think Clinton was around the same age as Obama when he ran, and Clinton **was** a big Dark Horse. He also had the advantage of a Governorship under his belt, which inspires more confidence than one Senate term. So strictly speaking Obama isn’t **too** young, he just doesn’t have a strong resume. His resume is basically the same as John Edwards in 2004. I think it’s very damaging to get tied to a losing Presidential campaign, so if he was to run and lose or run as the VP and lose, I think that’d make it an uphill battle every election to grab a nomination. It’s definitely worth feeling out though, if I was him I’d consider running in the primaries and if my polling numbers looked strong then I’d more seriously consider running for President. I’d make sure that there was serious polling done very early on to see what kind of support I might have in the general election, and if it looked like it just wasn’t going to happen I wouldn’t hurt my political image by losing a hard fought primary or general election. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/84 "2006-11-01T21:51:46Z")
How has Obama fared when under serious pressure? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/85 "2006-11-02T00:02:43Z")
[QUOTE=Martin Hyde] I think it’s very damaging to get tied to a losing Presidential campaign, so if he was to run and lose or run as the VP and lose, I think that’d make it an uphill battle every election to grab a nomination. [/QUOTE] [Charles Krauthammer](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102601253.html) makes a very good case for the exact opposite position–essentially, a failed primary run will be good experience for Obama, get him used to the rigors of campaigning on a national scale, and ideally position himself as a front-runner for the Dems in the future. And as for experience, this [quote] ([http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/us/politics/01obama.html?\_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/us/politics/01obama.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin)) is priceless: > [@](#): > > But he did elaborate on the question of experience, which given his brief tenure is certain to follow him if he decides to run. Asked how important experience should be for a president, he replied, “What I think is more important is judgment.” > > “Judgment can be borne out of experience,” he said. “It would be nice to think the more experience we get, the better our judgment is. But I don’t think that’s the case. I mean, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have an awful lot of experience, and yet have engineered what I think is one of the biggest foreign policy failures in our recent history. So I would say the two most important things are judgment and vision.” ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/86 "2006-11-02T18:14:45Z")
[QUOTE=DSeid] **greyhairedone** , what if who they want to convince is _themselves_?Honestly I think that skin color matters less than many think. Culture matters. Being able to identify with the person matters. Sometimes skin color and name travels with that but sometimes it does not. [/QUOTE] I don’t think very many people would need to actually vote for a black (or whatever minority) candidate to convince themselves they aren’t prejudice. It’s very easy to focus on just one issue that you don’t agree with and vote based on that issue alone. “I would have voted for Obama but he would outlaw kicking poodles on Sunday. Next thing you know all our freedoms would be lost!” The only way to get people to think about needing to prove to themselves and to others that they aren’t racist is to bring up the issue enough so that it can’t be buried. But then Obama would be accused of playing the race card to get elected and people would complain about black people never being satisfied and finding racism all over the place and he still wouldn’t get elected. I think Obama is the best candidate we have to put an end to the ORWG (love that acronymn BTW) monopoly on the presidency - at this time. I think the country (at least 50 million people anyway 🙂 ) are ready for a drastic change from the status quo - BUT I still don’t think Obama would win because there enough people who ARE NOT ready for that level of change to vote against him. I’m not saying that I think half of the country are racists, just that having a president that looks vastly different from the people we’re used to seeing in power is a big step to take and I think most people would prefer what they’re accustomed to rather than something new. Remember, almost every time we’ve seen a black president it’s one in charge a 2nd or 3rd world country. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/87 "2006-11-02T18:26:45Z")
[QUOTE=grayhairedmomma] ORWG [/QUOTE] Old Redneck White Guy? ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/88 "2006-11-02T19:13:05Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Old Redneck White Guy? [/QUOTE] No, Old _Rich_ White Guy, see Parental Advisory’s [excellent post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7871175&postcount=31) Sorry you weren’t properly credited before, **Parental Advisory**. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/89 "2006-12-02T13:43:27Z")
I don’t think he quite has the experience necessary to be President yet, but as I’ve said before on this board, I do think he’d be an excellent VP candidate and VP itself. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540/90 "2006-12-02T15:18:41Z")
Of the current field, knowing my homeboy Giuliani and his issues with free speech, John Wayne McCain and his pandering… Vilsack could show promise, but I don’t know if I like him. I like Obama. I’ve been listening to his podcasts. This could be his time. He _could_ do the Kennedy. I think it’s time we had another Kennedy, we need it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barack-obama-too-young-new-to-be-president/376540.md?page=4)