http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/10/07/obama-ruined-it-for-unqualified-candidates/
Obama ruined it for unqualified candidates By Jennifer Rubin <http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jennifer-rubin> October 7 at 2:00 PM A writer for the Dallas Morning News <http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/rick-perry-vs-ted-cruz-on-ebola-whos-exhibiting-stronger-leadership.html/?hootPostID=b54e36e7b3e599be800d243e954c8764> decided to contrast the reaction to the Ebola scare from Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). I’ll cut to the chase: [image: http://img.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/08/15/National-Security/Images/mmigration_Overload_Perry_National_Guard-0e5cc-1471.jpg] Gov. Rick Perry shakes hands with National Guard troops training at Camp Swift in Bastrop, Texas, in August. (AP Photo/San Antonio Express-News, William Luther) On Monday, [Perry] announced the formation of a 17-member task force to better the state’s readiness to deal with pandemic diseases. “We have learned a lot about the unique challenges of situations like this, and it’s important that we continue to adapt our response to these realities,” Perry said. Who would you rather have in charge? Perry, hands down. He’s the leader of the state and choosing to calmly navigate this situation. Cruz is working to amp up the panic, fomenting fear in the face of expert opinions (which say, for example, that shutting down flights is exactly the wrong thing to do). I don’t know which is the more politically smart play for 2016, but I know who I’d rather have at the helm of a crisis. That’s not fair to compare a governor who can and must run things to a senator, you might say. Well, if you were running an academic exercise, you would want a level playing field, but voters take candidates as they come. Some have more experience, others more charm and still others more D.C. experience. There may be another intrastate matchup if Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) faces off against former Florida governor Jeb Bush. How can you compare a two-term governor who passed a lot of conservative policies with a freshman senator in the minority? Again, fair-shmair. Voters will look at the candidates as they are. Candidates are not compelled to run for president with slight experience. Mike Pence, now governor of Indiana, had served in the House for five terms. Many Republicans wanted him to run for president in 2012. But likely for a myriad of reasons he chose to go get some executive experience and now has a few years at the helm in Indiana under his belt. Rather than a rash man in a hurry, he looks like a guy who has been a lawmaker, led a state and learned a lot along the way. Whatever you think of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s bridge troubles now, he was under intense pressure to run for president in 2012. He declined and said he did not feel he was ready. At least he was honest. In short, if you want to run for president before you’ve gained much experience and learned how to govern, go ahead. But then don’t complain that voters are judging you on experience and governing prowess. In a real sense, President Obama ruined things for the young, unaccomplished and inexperienced fast-talkers out there. Before he came along, wowed people with eloquence and then faltered again and again, voters in the 24/7 era had come to think of being president as, yes, commander in chief, but mostly as the giver of big speeches, a traveler abroad and the reader of a much-too-long State of the Union address. The Obama experience has reminded people that that is a fraction of what the president really does. And that’s where the unprepared president faltered. The bias toward governors — as we say, any governor over any senator — increases as the incumbent president collapses in rubble of his own making. Truth be told, anyone can write a speech for a candidate, but governing is hard and messy. If the senator-governor face-offs come to be (whether within state lines or across them) you will hear every senator argue that it is what you know and what you believe that matter. And you will hear every governor argue that it mostly is about what you have *done* and know how to *do*. Until Obama, it was a debatable proposition. Now? It is a bit ludicrous when you come to think of it. Ready to replace one wild card with another one? 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