Barack Obama's "Lack of Experience"

Bill Moyers had this to say:

Who do you see as a key figure in the time ahead?

I wish I were wise enough to answer that question. Who would have thought that an obscure black preacher from Montgomery, Alabama would become Martin Luther King? I believe that elites have to let go. Hillary Clinton would make a good president, but the same old crowd would come back with her. But when I look at Barack Obama, I think about John F. Kennedy, who leaped over Hubert Humphrey's generation to bring in fresh voices and fresh ideas. I keep thinking that we need to let that happen again. People say, "Obama is so inexperienced." No, he's as experienced as Lincoln was when Lincoln went into the White House. Lincoln had two years in Congress and eight years in the state legislature. Obama represents a generational metaphor. He opens up new gates so that younger people can feel that there's opportunity for them, that they can come in with him and create new possibilities. That's what's important. I've been around a long time in journalism and politics, and I come down to "Put not your trust in princes, they will disappoint you every time."

Obama's lack of experience helps him as much as it hurts him because it gives him the opportunity to paint himself as a political outsider. The image of the "people's man" making a foray into politics tends to win over the experienced political insider. Many campaigns have won
in recent years with this mantra. President George W. Bush used it in 2000, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger used it 2003, Senators Jim Webb and Jon Tester used it to win in 2006. A slew of congressmen, including "Orleans" singer John Hall and professional football player Heath Shuler, have successfully used their non-existant record to their advantage.

Has Bush soured people to the idea of a no-experience candidate at the national level? Perhaps.
But do people still think of Bush as a Washington outsider? Probably not.