I heard this on CNN's Late Edition today:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: You talk about how much you're worried about being able to pay the bills. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's not a worry John McCain has to worry about.
It's a pretty hard experience. He'll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. A clever line referring to how many homes the McCains own. But what do you think?
SPECTER: Well, I think that when the voter goes into that polling booth, he's going to be a lot more concerned about what Russia's doing in Jordan -- Georgia on their invasion or what's happening with Iran and their developing a nuclear bomb.
More below the fold...
Cont'd...
And John McCain has had a pretty -- pretty rugged life. He has not exactly had a life with a silver spoon in his mouth. John McCain has experienced more personal adversity than anybody I know -- certainly anybody in the United States Senate.
And I think he understands tough problems and the way to deal with them. I don't think anybody could ever fault John McCain about being able to deal with adversity and going through really a living hell, which is...
Much more here.
Personally, I don't think it should be about how much personal adversity one has suffered. There are people who have suffered great personal adversity who have not yet overcome it. And there are people who have overcome only a little personal adversity, and are supremely qualified to lead. Which one do you want to be President?
The White House isn't a social club for people to get together and compare war stories. Maybe it is, but it would functin better if it weren't. Quantities of personal suffering should be considered, because someone who has had no adversity to deal with need to be investigated if they are to be trusted with immense responsibility.
But a political campaign should be about how a candidate is dealing with it now, and how his outlook on life inspires others and uses the lessons he has learned to deal with even more adversity that is sure to come. Like say, the kind that happens to Presidents of major countries in times of war. But that's just me.
Cross Posted at Democratic Underground