RateItAll: The Opinion Network

His qualifications have to do with his bloodline. That's why he was a shoe-in for the Order of Death, a.k.a. Skull & Bones.

Can anyone name a more unqualified president?! Listening to him is almost as funny as larry the cable guy.

His experience and qualifications?He ran every business venture he was in charge of into the ground.His daddies Oil Baron Buddies the Saudis bailed him out.He left Texas deep in debt after being Governor.

Well...I can see where he's had all of the experience and qualifications that his daddy's money could buy!

Hold on, Bush-bashers, he had more executive experience, in a much larger state, with a better track record of accomplishment, than did your darling, the charming Bill Clinton, two non-consecutive, 2-year terms as Governor of Arkansas. Defeated in his first try for re-election because he pissed off Don Tyson in his first term, re-ingratiated himself and ran again, winning. He hasn't done badly for a guy so under-qualified. Incidentally, Ross Perot said that he didn't think Clinton was qualified to run the local Wal-mart.

Somebody tell him how to spell Experience/Qualifications.

Bush is not stupid. His image to ultraliberals is that of a puppet for oil companies, naive and easy to manipulate. I see otherwise.

I would say that Bush is not the most qualified man for the job; certainly there is better out there. Being governor of Texas, a largely ceremonial position, for 6 years is probably not enough experience to be president. Being the son of a former president helps, but experience isn't hereditary. Broadly speaking, no one wants to run for President because of the meat grinder you have to go through to reach the office. You have reporters and other people looking through the intimate details of your personal life. A lot of people say it's not worth it, the result of this attitude is that you get a field of people running for president that by and large consists of mediocrities. Look at the people running for President now in 2004, you don't see anyone who holds any special organizational talents or anything like that. What you see is the same kind of people running for office year after year proposing the same exact things every time. We need people to run for office that have really done something in life outside of politics. Think someone like Eisenhower, a big thinker who brought to the job other experiences besides running for office. There are a few people out there today, both in the public and private sector, who would make good presidents. But the people running now are all 2nd and 3rd tier candidates, including the current president. It's a shame more people don't step up to the plate.

A failure in business...and now a failure in politics.

Totally over his head. Lame oil executive, thief of a baseball team owner, truly terrible Texas Governor. Got "Gentlemen's Cs" at two Ivy League universities, which tells you if you're rich and your father's politically and socially connected, you can get into any college or university and see it through, even if you have an IQ of 56 like GWB.

Bush definetely has experience. He was the governor of Texas. He must of learned things from his father, when he was President. He also might have learned things from Jeb.

A two term governor of Texas (the state in which I reside) who through blind politics and lies claimed to have an excellent education and health care record. I live here and I go to school here, and it's only been a few years since Bush left and his successor (his close friend and Lt. Governor) is simply continuing his policy of budget cuts: we cannot afford copier paper or overhead light bulbs. Texas ranks 50th in the number of people without affordable health care- that's right, more people are uninsured here than anywhere else. Prior to that, he owned a baseball team and a not-so-successful oil company. Maybe in 2008, the Republicans can nominate George Steinbrenner, I don't think he's busy. Bush has few credentials which guarantee him to be up to par as President, but as someone pointed out, some of our best Presidents have been our least experianced ones.

To add to what gmanod said, not only is being governor not a good way at gaining experience, but if you look at what Bush did while governor, it gets even worse. Check out his education record and his health-care record. Abysmal. On a bright note, Dubya did open the doors for all C average, binge-drinking frat boys around the country.

I'm not gonna rate a two like Ruby did cause it seems many enduring presidents will step into the White House straight out of only a few terms as a state governor. But I won't rate very high either because truly it didn't seem like he had enough experience to be qualified. He still seems to be learning as he goes (for example with the way he's slowly learning about how resistant the rest of the world is to moving any muscle but their tongues to help people, something many experienced statesmen I think have always been aware of).

In 1971, W scored only 25% on a pilot aptitude test. But his father knew people, and W. was accepted into the Texas Air National Guard as a pilot . W was suspended during his service in the Texas Air National Guard for failing to take a physical that included a drug test. In May 1972, he applied for a transfer from Houston to Dannelly Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. But, there is no evidence that once in Alabama, Bush ever attended the required training. W's commander for the period in question, Gen. William Turnipseed, claims the young W never showed up for regular drills. He went AWOL for 2 years during the Vietnam War and received no punishment. W took his $50,000 trust fund and in 1977 started his first company, Arbusto Energy Inc. He got friends to invest in various drilling ventures that produced little oil, but did generate big tax deductions. One of the investors in Arbusto was Salem Bin Laden, Osama’s brother. Friendly investors arranged a 1984 deal in which struggling Arbusto was acquired by another drilling company called Spectrum 7. When Harken Energy bought Spectrum in 1986, George wound up on the board with a $120,000 consulting job and $530,380 worth of stock. In the midst of his father's presidency in 1990, Bush unloaded his Harken shares for $848,560. Less than two months later, Iraqi troops marched into Kuwait, throwing the oil business into turmoil. Harken shares plummeted and the company reported a $20-million quarterly loss. The SEC investigated W for improper insider trading but issued no reprimand. An SEC internal report states that George W. Bush violated federal securities laws at least four times. At the time, the SEC was headed by Richard Breeden, a former aide to President Bush. when he was a director of a Texas oil firm in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1998, W & Laura reported income of $18,405,524, on which they paid federal taxes of $3,772,252, or 20.5%. Most of their 1998 income came from long-term capital gains.

Anyone who thinks that Bush is qualified is a complete and utter moron. Governors are never very equipped to be Presidents because they are inexperienced with federal programs, federal management, and dealing with congress. Bush is even pathetically more unqualified because, more important than his obvious stupidity, the governorship of Texas is a postion of very little power; it's more of nominal position.

Would have to say that it's surprising Bush got off to such a strong start -- very few mistakes in his first term so far --- given his limited government experience. People should remember of course that the President with perhaps the worst qualifications for the office was Abraham Lincoln -- a one-term Congressman. Also, perhaps we're learning that its better for Presidents to have MBAs than having been lawyers, etc. Bush is the first MBA President.

What qualifications?

With his father as a president in the past, Bush Jr. probably got all of his experience from his daddy.

HE HAS NONE

Do we need to ask this? We know that he only got the job b/c the votes were counted incorrectly in FL and b/c of who is father is? Can you spell "NEPOTISM"

We've not had much luck with southern governors in the White House, have we?

Two terms as governor of a state with a weak-governor system; before that, a baseball team co-owner whose grand ambition was to be baseball commissioner. He's not as stupid as he sounds, but he's not as well-versed in politics, economics, and international affairs as should be either.

How the Governor of Arkansas with an abysmal record can be qualified to be President and the Governor of Texas unqualified is a complete mystery to me. Bush is obviously over qualified for the job.