President 2008 - Only those with Global Expertise Please...

I think it has become evident from 9 11 and events in Iraq, Iran, Korea, etc. that our next President will need global experience before taking the office.

We cannot afford to have another President finding out about how the world works “on the job.” One doesn't learn much about the planet in a motorcade. One sees the world differently --realistically--when you've been across the negotiating table in venues around the world.

It was those global trips for a Fortune 500 company that introduced me to Saddam in 1979 and the evolution of China. Which brings me to the next point: The next administration needs to have a global strategy – not just a domestic one. And no more just “making it up as you go.” In other words, what will the next President do to expand trade and reduce global tensions? World events are as much of being President as dealing with tax policy and domestic issues.

What we don’t need is someone who is guessing what Russians, Chinese, Koreans, Iraqis, etc. are really like and following advisors theories. We don't need paranoids on the right nor blind optimists on the left. The NeoCons made assumptions about Iraq that any international negotiator who has made deals in the Middle East would never make. Because Mr. Bush had never been in those countries before taking office, he believed his advisors and their (flawed) theories. He has paid a high price for it.

To the contrary, his dad, Bush 41, HAD been "out there" and has a realistic view. That is what we need back in office. We, as the most powerful country in the world, cannot afford to elect a new "Captain of our ship of State" in 2008 --Democrat or Republican-- who has never sailed the global seas before taking office. As we have seen,the learning curve is too steep, too expensive and too prone to cause dramatic failures and a loss of U.S. image when our top officials are strangers to the world in which we live. The same can be said about our Congress reps.

Keep that in mind when the hordes of (Presidential) candidates emerge... It's the global, 21st Century and we'll need global, 21st Century Presidents for the rest of this century, and beyond....