It seems that Hillary Clinton isn’t the only prominent Democrat who can’t bring herself to say that Barack Obama is qualified to be president. Jimmy Carter was interviewed on CNN’s American Morning today:
First off, let’s note that Senator Obama announced his candidacy only about two months after the Charlie Rose interview — not two years. It’s also interesting that in this interview, it doesn’t occur to Carter to say that he has changed his mind about Obama’s qualifications. Nor did he do so on Hardball. Nor did he do so when he ‘lavished praise’ on Obama to the Wall Street Journal. The best he seems to be able to say about Obama is that he gave a great speech, lots of Democrats liked him, and he was a good Democrat: not an endorsement that inspires much confidence. In looking to candidates such as Nunn and Biden, he couldn’t have picked people much more different than Obama. Carter’s comments here make pretty clear that he’s looking for a president with experience and credentials — not someone who needs on the job training. At least he’s learned from his mistakes.
