To the Editor:
Critics of President-elect Barack Obama, who in their small compass of life claim he is inexperienced, don’t imagine that his degree from Columbia University (major in political science with a concentration in international relations) means much. Nor his law degree (magna cum laude) from Harvard University, nor his being president of the Harvard Law Review.
These critics do not mention that Obama was a well-regarded law professor at the prestigious University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004, practiced law from 1993 to 2004 with the Chicago law firm Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, and served on the board of directors of several organizations.
Critics of Obama who claim he has little experience don’t seem to count Obama’s tenure, from 1997 to 2004, as a state senator from a major U.S. city in a major U.S. state. Nor his serving as a U.S. senator from that state from 2004 to 2008.
It seems to me that Obama’s education was excellent and that his work in law, with organizations, and in legislatures has given him a profound view of political realities. He is serious and articulate.
His multiple, simultaneous jobs over the years show me he is a master of time management. His nominations of Geithner, Richardson, Summers, Orszag, and Volcker to his economic team have met with bipartisan admiration–even from John McCain.
It is clear to me that he can work with everyone from neighborhood constituents to national power brokers, and he can likewise stand up to our enemies.
We would do well to stand by him.
Eivind A. Boe, Nobleboro
