While at a town hall meeting in Texas days away from being part of the March 4 contests, US Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama decided to play the role of guidance and social counselor. He would coach the cheering crowd on how to parent their children. They listened and laughed at Obama’s coaching.
“Can I make this one last point? I hope I’m not offending anybody,” Obama said to the crowd. He added: “It doesn’t matter how much money we put in (education) if parents don’t parent.”
Obama added: “So turn off the TV set. Put the video game away. Buy a little desk or put that child at the kitchen table. Watch them do their homework. If they don’t know how to do it give ‘em help. If you don’t know how to do it, call the teacher Make them go to bed at a reasonable time. Keep ‘em off the streets. Give ‘em some breakfast. Can I get an Amen here?”
He would say not to curse out the teacher or give them any Popeye’s for breakfast. It seemed more of a comedy than a political event. While they were having fun, one man wanted Obama to take a look at one of the most serious issues, which is experience. So far, rival Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton and GOP frontrunner John McCain have used inexperience as ammunition against Obama.
At a recent RNC donor event, they highlighted part of a five-point strategy to attack Obama on inexperience.
“You’re the junior Senator from Illinois and you have not finished your first term” said one of the voters in the crowd.
The voter adds: “And you’ve got this audience all in the palm of your hands, but you have 200 million people that you have to convince by November, that you have the experience to take over all these issues. How do you tell them that you have the experience?”
While the crowd booed, Obama said that it was a very valid question. The issue of experience is one that has plagued Obama’s campaign for months.
“We’ve now had primaries and caucuses in 35 states and there are a while bunch of people who appear satisfied by my response. Let me give it once again,” Obama answered.
He explained by saying: “I haven’t been in Washington as long as some of the other candidates, so if your criteria for who the best equipped is to be president is how long you’ve been there, then we shouldn’t have even had a primary and a caucus, we could have just looked at Joe Biden, who’d been there the longest and settled it that way. But I think what the American people are looking for is not just longevity, but they’re looking for judgment.”