On Wednesday, columnist Bill Hoffman made the case for Barack Obama in the Democratic primary. I too believe that Barack Obama is the superior choice for primary voters and can better lead this country than other candidates in the race (in either party), and here’s why.

As much as the notion of “change” has been overused in this race, Obama is truly the best person to deliver it. It’s often reported that Obama is seen as the change candidate because he’s young and has not become entrenched in Washington politics. While this is certainly true and is a serious benefit to his candidacy, his history of action on issues is rarely spoken of.

Before attending Harvard Law, Obama worked as a community organizer in poor, urban areas of Chicago. After law school, he continued to work in these areas, fighting for voting rights and working to ensure equal protection under the law for all. As a state senator in Illinois, Obama had numerous accomplishments, many of which took serious political maneuvering, such as requiring law enforcement to tape all interrogations. In achieving his goals, Obama was able to unite and win the respect of many outside the Democratic Party. This characteristic has already shown itself on the campaign trail, with numerous Republicans and Independents rallying behind him.

Barack Obama may lack the national political experience of Hillary Clinton, but experience is not a guarantee of success. As Obama has pointed out, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney had extensive experience before planning the Iraq war. Even Bill Clinton himself spoke of the over-valuing of experience when he ran for president in 1992. In a presidential debate in October of 1992, Clinton said, “I believe experience counts, but it’s not everything.The same old experience is not relevant.And you can have the right kind of experience and the wrong kind of experience.” He was absolutely right.

Furthermore, why has Hillary Clinton been given a free pass on her experience claims? While she certainly deserves credit for the good work she’s done in her life, her experience is often perceived as more extensive than it actually is. Over and over again, she cites her “35 years of experience” but no one ever notes that it hasn’t even been a full 35 years since she graduated from law school. Can Obama then claim to have 25 years of experience, because he began his work as a community organizer after graduating from college?

Hillary Clinton is not the experienced candidate in this race; Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, and Bill Richardson were the ones with far more experience.

While Hillary Clinton did have a very active role as first lady, her credentials are not as broad as she leads voters to believe. Last month, The New York Times revealed that as first lady, she never held a security clearance, never attended National Security Council meetings, was not included in President Clinton’s daily intelligence briefing and had zero input in the most serious crises of President Clinton’s time in office.

And finally, as Bill Hoffman pointed out on Wednesday, her supposed experience failed her when it mattered most: the vote for the Iraq war. Why should we believe that her judgment will be any better in the future, especially as she stubbornly refuses to apologize for her vote?

Hillary Clinton represents the politics of old in this election. She brings a continuation of the extreme partisanship in this country. A look at her extremely high unfavorable ratings and her constant and relentless berating of the Republican Party confirms this. I also believe that she will, in the Washington political tradition, treat her constituency as the mere means to remaining in power-placating to anyone and saying anything to win.

We’ve seen evidence of this already: the constant change in message depending on the political climate, the constant reshaping of her campaign, her Karl Rove-like use of fear as a political tool, and her campaign’s subtle mentions of race and Obama’s admitted past drug use.

I won’t try to predict the future of this election or even what will happen in the Nevada caucuses tomorrow. Iowa and New Hampshire proved that polls and pundits are about as reliable as Miss Cleo. I do know, though, that Barack Obama is a serious contender in this race, and I truly believe that he is by far the best choice for president.

Perhaps I’m just a na’ve college student with an unrealistic idealism about American politics, but regardless, Obama’s candidacy is a serious blow to the cynical political view that many hold. Win or lose, he has done something extremely important. Obama’s candidacy has shown that politics isn’t predetermined and that the true power in this country lies with the people. I can only hope that their choice in this presidential election is a little better than it was the last time around.

Altin is a senior in Arts & Sciences and a Forum editor. He can be reached via e-mail at forum@studlife.com.

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