Emil "I'm gonna' make me a US senator" Jones.

It's a bit early to be making that claim.

As desperate as the left is for America to lose to Islamic psychopaths, that calculus will change in November. If the Democrats win they can't risk jumping through the many hoops that would be required at that point to bring about defeat. If the Republicans win the policy will remain essentially the same.

Lincoln was the more progressive candidate and that is where his support came from. It was the conservatives that actively opposed him, some going so far as to attempt to remove themselves from the union.

I had no idea the New York press tried to leave the Union. Thanks for the info. It's also interesting to find out that copperheads were conservatives. It reminds me of the brilliant quote "that guy's to the right of Stalin!".

A man who oversaw an unpopular, yet ultimately successful war

It's a bit early to be making that claim.

hated by the press and the left as inarticulate idiot

Lincoln was the more progressive candidate and that is where his support came from. It was the conservatives that actively opposed him, some going so far as to attempt to remove themselves from the union.

I attempted to respond yesterday with several links. Unfortunately that post is in an OTB administrative black hole. Your basic argument seems to be since we got lucky with Lincoln, lets roll the dice again with Obama.

When Obama thinks the JFK and Khrushchev meeting went well (resulting in the view of Khrushchev, in the Cuban missile crisis and the loss of Turkish missiles, 50 years of Castro, and the construction of the Berlin wall, all due to Khrushchev's perceived weakness of JFK), I believe it's reasonable to say Obama lacks an understanding of history. Ditto for his comparison to Reagan meeting Gorby in his second term post Perestroika with meeting with Iran in his first year with no preconditions. His thought that the depression was a result of unequal income distribution, 1970's inflation due to a lack of educational investment, thinking the defendants at Nuremberg has constitutional rights, etc., etc.

You're applying a negative correlation (lack of experience versus performance) to one instance where it was overwhelmed by other factors (Grant, Sherman) and declaring it a positive correlation.

If you want to compare Lincoln to someone currently in politics the obvious guy is Bush. A man who oversaw an unpopular, yet ultimately successful war making a myriad of mistakes, hated by the press and the left as inarticulate idiot. Just like Lincoln.

While Lincoln was needed for his time. Obama is an unknown.

Again, I don't think that you understand that this is an opinion and not a fact. Of course, Lincoln was necessary for his time but that was only after he actually proved it. Obviously Obama, who represents Marxism, Racism and the Sith to you, doesn't fit your unbiased criteria as a potentially effective President, but it's completely unprovable. Abraham Lincoln came in with a history of losing, a mealy-mouth stance on slavery and relatively thin credentials and is considered one of our greatest Presidents, while Nixon and Buchanan had some of the most impressive credentials in Presidential candidates and were miserable failures.

Sorry for the lack of links.

Knock yourself out man.

As for Lincoln, spend as much time as you want on this. I will certainly acknowledge that I really have no bloody idea about Lincoln's views on economics, but as presidents before FDR generally followed the 10th amendment, it didn't matter as much.

One rather obvious difference between Lincoln and Obama is that Lincoln didn't show he was clueless regarding history and economics.

Well, leaving aside the fact that you put some dubious examples of how Obama is clueless about history and economics, you didn't once demonstrate the Lincoln was some savant going into his Presidency. I'm not saying that Lincoln wasn't a hybrid of Keynes and Beschloss, but I don't see where you even put down limited evidence to demonstrate this.

Neither Obama nor Einstein visited Antarctica. Therefore Obama is a physicist. Amazing.

I can't imagine the public is going to hold half a century of public service against McCain.

I don't think anyone is holding it against him, but considering that so many on the right argue that the federal government is the cause of many of our problems... well it could make for an interesting argument.

This argument instead goes to the absurd notion not that he's less experienced but that he's unqualified.

That's a fair point. And, yes, Obama is or will be "qualified" by inauguration day if he's elected. If you're not "qualified" when you start campaigning, you'll get that way running for the job and putting together a transition team.

McCain's only worked for one employer: The United States Federal Government.

I can't imagine the public is going to hold half a century of public service against McCain. It's not like he was working for HUD or something; people like the Navy.

Indeed, aside from a few months as president of Columbia University, Eisenhower had spent his whole life in the Army before becoming president. Granted, Ike's experience was sui generis.

But, surely, if experience is going to be a factor, it’s one that redounds to McCain’s benefit.

Really? McCain's only worked for one employer: The United States Federal Government. He has not worked in the private sector. He has not worked in the non-profit sector. He has not taught classes on the U.S. Constitution. He has worked in the Navy, the House of Representatives, and the Senate--that's it. Surely breadth of experience counts for something, too.

Even the biggest Obama backer wouldn't argue that he has more experience than McCain. This argument instead goes to the absurd notion not that he's less experienced but that he's unqualified. You hear it mostly from right wing hacks and the NoQuarter dead-enders but it is still out there. It plays into the meme that Obama is some "Affirmative Action" candidate whose only qualifications are that he gives a good speech and he's a negro. The silly thing is that when people point out his experience in comparison to Honest Abe, you hear that Obama's no Abraham Lincoln, in which case Abraham Lincoln wasn't President Lincoln until he actually proved himself in office