[Experience or change? New York Democrats must decide in Tuesday’s primary election between Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Shelly Schwartz of Democracywise tells us how two simple words have fueled the Democratic presidential race but may oversimplify the candidates.]
Want a Democrat with experience? Vote Clinton. How about a candidate for change? Vote Obama.
But political science professor Kristi Andersen of Syracuse University says it’s not that cut and dry.
[“I don’t think it’s a clear, ‘She has experience and he doesn’t.’ They have different sorts of experiences. And either one of them are going to bring a huge amount of change from the Bush administration.” Kristi Andersen of Syracuse University’s Maxwell School]
Senators Clinton and Obama are the only remaining Democrats in the presidential race. Both have tried to portray themselves as candidates of experience and change. Jay Biba is Clinton’s Central New York campaign director. Biba is confident she will win her home state. Biba reminds voters that Clinton’s experience includes seven years in the Senate and eight years as first lady when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president. And Biba says her experience goes beyond those best known parts of her life.
[“Aside from the fact that she was apart of the White House for eight years, she has 35 years of experience working for the underprivileged, for children in the area of healthcare, in the area of civil service and social service.” Jay Biba, regional director of Hillary Clinton’s campaign]
For Obama, Marc Peters — a Syracuse University senior— is the manager of the campaign’s national blog. Peters disagrees with what he sees as a too-narrow definition of experience.
[“He has a different kind of experience. He was a community organizer. He was a civil rights lawyer. And I think that’s important experience for the kind of times we’re in. I don’t think that’s experience that should be written off just because it wasn’t in Washington D.C.” Marc Peters of Syracuse University.]
Change has also been a buzz word this primary season. Both Democratic candidates break the American tradition of a white, male president.
Political scientist Kristi Andersen suggests Hillary Clinton will have a tough time convincing voters that she represents more of a change than Obama — largely because her husband, Bill Clinton, has already been president for eight years.
[“I think that one thing people might want to take into account is this whole dynasty question. If Clinton serves eight years, we will have had Bushes and Clintons in office for what — 28 years or something?” Kristi Andersen of Syracuse University’s Maxwell School]
The Democratic presidential primary in New York and 21 other states is Tuesday. In Onondaga County, the polls open at noon. For
Democracywise, I’m Shelly Schwartz.
(Shelly Schwartz is a senior broadcast journalism major.)
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