Raising Race

Obama's Experience Problem

Topic: Clinton's attacks on Obama have somewhat succeeded in raising questions about his experience. Those concerns will be amplified by McCain during the general election and, given Obama's race, particularly difficult to overcome.

Origin of the Problem

• Clinton used “experience” to depict both her and Obama
• Questions of readiness stuck to Obama
• People predisposed to think inexperience is bad
  • Plane meaning of the word
  • Bush

Experience in the General Election

• McCain? will pick up where Hillary left off
  • More Experienced
  • Older
  • Veteran
  • More Time to Hammer

Barriers to Overcoming the Criticism

• Obama’s Inexperience
  • Lincoln
  • Voters are willing to look past inexperience (Bush)
• Obama’s Age
  • Voters are willing to look past youth (Kennedy, Clinton)
  • With McCain? as a too-old foil, youth might be an asset
• Obama’s Race
  • Harder to picture an experienced black man than an experienced white man – difficult to dig out of the hole.

Conclusion