Three Democrats and Not An Executive Among Them

David Broder writes about an issue most Republicans have noticed from the start - there are no candidates left in the Dem field with executive level experience:

WASHINGTON -- It was fascinating to watch the three top contenders for the Democratic nomination discuss their concept of the presidency during Tuesday night's MSNBC debate in Las Vegas. But it was also stunning to realize that the three current and former senators who have survived the shakeout process -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards -- have not a day of chief executive experience behind them.

By contrast, the Republican field is loaded with people who are accustomed to being in charge of large organizations. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee were governors of their home states of Massachusetts and Arkansas, Rudy Giuliani served as the mayor of New York City, and John McCain, as he likes to remind audiences, commanded the largest squadron in the Navy air wing.

In the past, voters have preferred to entrust the White House to those with executive credentials. John Kennedy was the last sitting senator to be elevated into the presidency. Since then, the former governors of Georgia, California, Arkansas and Texas have dominated the list of successful candidates.

All of them stumbled during their tenures in the White House, and only Ronald Reagan left the presidency with his place in the history books seemingly securely enhanced.

But the public remains convinced that the Oval Office is a place for executive talents -- which makes the current Democratic field something of an anomaly.

Let's see, Hillary ran the ill-fated health care task force and managed Bill's bimbo eruptions. John Edwards channeled the spirits of dead babies in order to con juries into huge awards, and Barack Obama voted "present" a lot as a State legislator.

On the other side, Mitt Romney ran a state and any number of companies plus a little thing called the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Rudy Giuliani ran the nation's largest city. Mike Huckabee ran a small southern state. John McCain and Fred Thompson don't have executive experience. McCain would probably be something just this side of Captain Bly if he actually ran a large enterprise. I'm sure Fred would do just fine.

We'll have to see if the voters care about that stuff anymore.