Words Versus Experience

In the upcoming Democratic primaries and caucuses, it's important for us to look past the speeches and examine which candidate has more experience and more achievements relevant to the job. On the one hand, we have a candidate who has served six years as a legislator and another year campaigning. This first candidate has authored and passed into law 20 pieces of legislation in six years' time. According to the Library of Congress--thomas.loc.gov--these legislative acts accomplished the following:

Established the Kate Mullany National Historic Site
Supported the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month
Recognized the Ellis Island Medal of Honor
Named a courthouse after Thurgood Marshall, and another after James L. Watson
Named a post office after Jonn A. O'Shea, and another after Sgt. Riayan A. Tejeda
Congratulated the Syracuse U. and Le Moyne College Men's Lacrosse teams on their championship wins
Honored the lives of Alexander Hamilton and four other deceased Americans
Designated Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day
Established the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program.

This first candidate did, in seven years, pass five non-symbolic pieces of legislation, which:

1. Extended the period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11.
2. Paid for city projects in response to 9/11.
3. Assisted landmine victims in other countries.
4. Assisted family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care.

On the other hand, we have a second candidate, one who has held elected office for twelve years. During the first eight years, this second candidate sponsored over 820 bills, including 233 regarding healthcare reform, 125 on poverty and public assistance, 112 crime fighting bills, 97 economic bills, 60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills, 21 ethics reform bills, fifteen gun control bills, six bills regarding veterans' affairs, and many others.

In this candidate's first year in the U.S. Senate, the candidate authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These bills included:

1. The Government Transparency Act (became law)
2. The Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act (became law)
3. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (passed the Senate)
4. The Government Ethics Bill (became law)
5. The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill (now in committee)

And many more.

This second candidate is, of course, Senator Barack Obama. The first? Senator Hillary Clinton. On March 4th, the choice is clear: We can vote for a Senator who has passed five important motions in seven years, or a Senator who has passed five very important bills in his first year. We can elect a President whose first act will be to pass a resolution that names Texans the best voters in the world, or we can elect a President who will start making real improvements on day one. A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for experience, a vote for accomplishment, a vote for change we can believe in.

Jason Vieyra-Preston