I think Matt's missing the relevant distinction that makes Obama the least experienced presidential candidate of All Recorded History: Most of his experience in government was in state government. For reasons I don't entirely understand, legislative experience at the state level isn't considered legislative experience at all. It's like training for actual legislative experience, which can only be accrued in Washington, DC. This particular bit of chauvinism doesn't effect governors, who can spend 12 years as the executive of a small state and be considered perfectly fit for the presidency. It also doesn't harm mayors of New York. And being a prominent business or military man also gets you a pass. But legislating in the statehouse, why, that's adorable, but not really relevant to the job at hand...
