Stature Gap and More

The fellas at Powerline have this post about the difference in stature between the top three candidates in each party for the Presidency. McCain is a war hero and been heavily involved in every major legislative debate of the past 10 years. Rudy Giuliani successfully governed the biggest city in America to a successful turnaround in every category and was a national hero on 9/11. Mitt Romney has been a governor, a very sucessful businessman and ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City to a profit making enterprise, despite all the scandals involved prior to his tenure. On the Democratic side:

What about the Dems? They feature John Edwards, a rich trial lawyer who served one term in the U.S. Senate. His accomplishments as a Senator were practically nil, though he did manage to cast a vote in favor of a war he now says he abhors. The Democratic field also includes the even less experienced Barack Obama, who has two years in the U.S. Senate, and whose great life story contains nothing else that ordinarily might be considered a credential for high office. Finally, though Hillary Clinton is not without stature, much of it comes by virtue of being the wife of Bill Clinton. Since the end of her husband's term she's been a diligent Senator. But unlike McCain who is courageous and tries to lead, Hillary is timid and tries to jockey.

There is another important factor in the GOP's favor--executive experience. Two of the top three contenders have real, demonstrable executive experience. The last president to come to the White House without major executive experence was John F. Kennedy. Lyndon Johnson had been Vice President, as had Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. (although, to be fair, Ford inheireted the office, at least LBJ did win one election to the Presidency on his own.) Former governors included Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Look at the GOP, Guiliani has New York City, which has a larger population than some states. Romney has Massachussets. I might also add that both men were Republicans elected by overwhelmingly Democratic constituencies (another real plus).

While McCain has no executive experience, he does have a certain amount of gravitas. On the Democratic side, none of the top three have executve experience and John McCain himself has more years in the Senate that Clinton, Obama and Edwards combined. Executive experience is not the end-all, be-all requirement for Presidential aspirations, but it does make a difference among voters. Had it not, then we wouldn't have the pattern we have now.

Even if executive experience matters to many, if not most voters, the fact that the GOP leaders have significant experience does. Right now, the leading Dems are way light in the category and there is nothing they can do about it. That may be the reason why both Guiliani and Romeny are capable of taking on the Hilary juggernaut and win, even in meaningless polls taken some 600 days before the next election.