Talk Elections

I think a lot of people have forgotten that Romney served as Governor for only.... 4 years. Yes, Obama was only a senator for 4 years but I also think that his problems in dealing with the Republicans were somewhat due a naive hopefulness of conciliation.

So in the middle of the night I was thinking… what is the combined major political experience of recent two major party candidates at the time of their election? Major experience being: President, vice President, Governor, Senator, or Cabinet Member.

Eisenhower 0 yrs + Stevenson 4 yrs as Governor = 4 yrs
Eisenhower 4 yrs as President + Stevenson 4yrs as Gov = 8 yrs
Kennedy 8yrs as Senator + Nixon 10 ys (8yrs as V. Pres + 2 yrs as Senator) = 18 yrs
Johnson 16 yrs (1 yr as Pres + 3 yrs as Vice Pres + 12 yrs as Sen) + Goldwater 12 yrs = 28 yrs
Nixon 10yrs (8yrs as V. Pres + 2 yrs as Sen) + Humphrey  20 yrs (4 yrs as V. Pres + 16 yrs as Sen) = 30 yrs
Nixon 14 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 8 yrs as V. Pres + 2 yrs as Sen) + McGovern 10 yrs = 24 yrs
Carter 4rs as Gov + Ford 3 yrs (2 yrs as Pres + 1 yr as V. Pres) = 7 yrs
Reagan 8 yrs as Gov + Carter 8 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 4 yrs as Gov) = 16 yrs
Reagan 12 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 8 yrs as Gov) + Mondale 16 yrs (4 yrs as V. Pres + 12 yrs as Sen) = 28 yrs
Bush 8 yrs of V Pres + Dukakis 10 yrs as Gov = 18 yrs
Clinton 12 yrs as Gov + Bush 12 yrs (4 yrs of Pres + 8 yrs of V Pres) = 24 yrs
Clinton 16 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 12 yrs as Gov) + Dole 28 yrs as Sen = 44 yrs
Bush 6 yrs as Gov + Gore 16 yrs (8 yrs as V Pres + 8 yrs as Sen) = 22 yrs
Bush 10 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 6 yrs as Gov) + Kerry (20 yrs as Senator) = 30 yrs
Obama 4 yrs as Sen + McCain 22 yrs as Sen = 26 yrs

Obama vs. Romney would be:
Obama 8 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 4 yrs as Sen) + Romney 4 yrs = 12 years.

Under this criteria:
Paul: 0
Gingrich: 0, but 4 if you count Speaker as major
Santorum: 12.

You all know how I feel about Gingrich, but being Speaker is akin to being de facto leader of your party in the absence of controlling the presidency. There is a reason why the Speaker is in line to be president right after the vice-president. Definitely as serious as any position in the Senate.

Other than that, nice tabulation.

You're right, Speaker should count. In that case, Gingrich would get 4 yrs and 6 yrs as Minority Whip. If we are including major leadership positions in the House, then Ford would get an additional 9 yrs when he was the Minority Leader of the House.

Carter 4rs as Gov + Ford 12 yrs (2 yrs as Pres + 1 yr as V. Pres + 9 yrs as Minority Leader) = 16 yrs

For 2012:

Obama 8 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 4 yrs as Sen) + Romney 4 yrs = 12 yrs.

Obama 8 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 4 yrs as Sen) + Paul 0 yrs  = 12 yrs.

Obama 8 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 4 yrs as Sen) + Gingrich 10 yrs (4 yrs as Speaker + 6 yrs as Minority Whip) = 18 yrs.

Obama 8 yrs (4 yrs as Pres + 4 yrs as Sen) + Santorum 12 yrs as Sen = 20 years.

Gingrich and Santorum vs Obama would be more average, but Romney vs. Obama would be the lowest combined "major political experience" since... 1956, with Eisenhower vs. Stevenson.

For the voters, it only matters on who he picks as Vice President. 

A vice president with a lot of experience is usually seen as a good thing for the ticket, and can serve to balance out any inexperience or naivete on the president.

...or draw to attention your own youth and inexperience (see Bentsen, L.)

Dukakis was leading the polls against the wimpy GHWB.  It was only after huge negative ad spending that Bush pulled it out.  They were both bad candidates, but it wasn't Bentsen's fault.

Yeah, the Willie Horton ads and Dukakis' gaffe in the debate ("if Kitty Dukakis was raped and murdered, would you support the death penalty for the perpetrator?" or however it was worded) did him in. Bentsen had nothing to do with the loss, and totally annihilated Quayle in the veep debate.