Barack Obama: Experienced Enough?

As the 2008 elections draw closer, the candidates are undergoing increasing scrutiny and criticism. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has been a controversial candidate from the day he announced his campaign. Pulling on the support of the African-American community and the shift towards a different form of government than our current administration, Obama has overcome much of the controversy to become a front-runner as the possible Democratic nominee over Hillary Clinton and Mike Gravel. But with only 2 years in the United States Senate, does Obama have the experience it takes to run a nation?

This is a topic of heated debate at the moment. His opponents, Clinton and Gravel, have a long history of politics to draw upon, whereas Obama only has 7 years in the Illinois Senate and his current run as a U.S. Senator. Despite that, he has managed to accomplish a lot during his career. An active proponent of immigration reform, Senator Obama helped push legislation to improve security along the U.S.-Mexico border that was eventually signed into law as the Secure Fence Act by President Bush in 2006. He also crossed party lines to team up with Republican Senator Dick Lugar in an international investigation into securing and regulating weapons among terrorist groups. His partnership with Russ Feingold (D-WI) resulted in a proposition for widespread reform of federal spending among government officials to provide a higher standard of control and responsibility. He has worked towards environmental reform, as well as a way to help bring our troops home by mid-2008.

Obama is no lame duck, that's for sure. He definitely has an active hand in politics, as his record as Senator will show. But is this enough? At 45, Obama may need to spend some more time on Capitol Hill before he's ready to command the Oval Office. Then again, our current president only served 6 years as governor of Texas before serving two terms in office, so it begs the question: do we hold all our candidates to the same standards? Or are we over-analytical now due to the last 8 years?