![]() |
GLENN: All right, let me go to Brandon. He's in Kansas listening to us on KZRG. Brandon, you said that you want a guy who doesn't have Washington experience and no experience as a governor because you want to get -- and break the cycle of our politicians. And I agree with you on that. I like the idea that a guy is not beholden to a party, et cetera, et cetera, and he's just a regular schmo. However, when I pointed out how big the United States is, you would -- and that you're a shareholder in the United States, as a business, the size of the economy, you told me that you would never put a guy up with absolutely no experience of running a business as the CEO of Exxon. They can have all the advisors they want. Why would you put someone in, what is the experience that Barack Obama has that makes you say, okay, he doesn't have Washington experience, which I count as a good thing, but he has this experience. What has he done in his life that shows you he has the experience of running something big?
CALLER: Well, I feel like he has almost like it's that he has done is that I feel like how smart, how I feel how smart he is.
GLENN: Okay. So wait a minute. Hang on just a second. Wait, wait. Wait, wait. Brandon, I'm not going to let you just roll off a bunch of stuff. Let's take it one line at a time. Okay. You just say that it is because he's so smart, not what he's done in his life but just that he's so smart. Do I understand that first sentence right?
CALLER: Sure.
GLENN: Okay. Tell me, why couldn't -- why wouldn't you hire somebody who's really, really smart to run Exxon with absolutely no business experience?
CALLER: You would hire someone extremely smart with Exxon.
GLENN: With no business -- so as a shareholder --
CALLER: But you wouldn't do that as business --
GLENN: Wait, wait. As a shareholder you would be fine to have somebody with no business experience running ExxonMobil if he's smart? You would make a case and campaign for that guy if you were a major shareholder in Exxon?
CALLER: I don't know if you forgot but we're talking about running for President, not running for ExxonMobil.
GLENN: I'm telling you -- you tell me the difference, Brandon, between running the largest economy in the world, you tell me the difference between running a company that is big but nowhere near the size in employees, in benefits, in impact as ExxonMobil. So you're right, we are talking about running the United States and not ExxonMobil. The United States is much more complex, much bigger, has a much bigger impact not only on taxpayers, the shareholders, but the entire world. So you are right.
CALLER: And how many -- if you're CEO of ExxonMobil, you better run that by yourself. If you're President of the United States, you've got to have the judgment to pick, to pick people to help you to pick sound advisors. How many advisors does George Bush have in his White House? You're able to pick the brilliant, the most -- the smartest and most brilliant advisors at that particular subject to help you, help with your decisions to run the country. And I --
GLENN: Okay, I just want to make sure. So you're disagreeing -- so you're disagreeing with your first idea that you would not hire someone to run your company that had no experience. You said that you'd never do that if it was a big company but you're now telling me that that premise was wrong because you would; you'd just let him hire really good advisors.
CALLER: No. For a company, a company. I'm talking about the presidency, not a company.
GLENN: Does anybody -- hang on. Is it just me? What is it that you don't understand that a company is smaller than the United States government? You will not allow someone with no experience to run something that is smaller and doesn't have the impact on every human's life on the planet but you will accept a lower standard for the United States President. I don't understand that, Brandon.
CALLER: The only experience that counts is someone who has run ExxonMobil?
GLENN: No, Brandon --
CALLER: I mean, it's just --
GLENN: Are you this stupid? I use ExxonMobil because it's the largest corporation out. There you could use Wal-Mart. You could use Sears. You could use, you know, a Citigroup. You could use any large corporation. The size of the United States government dwarves all of the biggest corporations on the country combined. It is a bigger project. I mean, give me the experience of Barack Obama running anything, anything. Tell me where he's got experience running anything.
CALLER: Can I say one thing?
GLENN: Can you answer the question?
CALLER: Oh, experience, experience running, running anything. No, I don't know that he has ran anything. I don't know that he has been a CEO of any company.
GLENN: No, he's never -- hang on just a second. It's not that he's just not been a CEO.
CALLER: Okay.
GLENN: He's done -- he's not run anything. He has no experience being the CEO of anything but yet you're willing to do that. What this is akin to is if I said to you, would you want somebody who's never driven a car running NASCAR? And you'd say, of course not. But you're willing to put them on a highway where they affect the average everyday citizen, all of them. You're willing to just say, no, they can get on the highway. You know, if they have no experience, you wouldn't let them in the car when they can do giant damage. You would at least say, let me see a little bit of their driving experience. The man has none and you're okay with that.
CALLER: I'm not -- I am okay with the person who would first ask an American to graduate at the top of his --
GLENN: Oh, okay, so it's race.
CALLER: Harvard Law Review, I don't know if I got that exactly right. But very first, he's really smart. And I'm tired of our senators and our governors having a monopoly on the experience needed to run for President. In my personal opinion is that we should put, you know, one of our own and one of our own American citizens in there, really smart, someone that we would want to teach us a college class instead of somebody I'd rather drink a beer with in college like we have right now with Bush.
GLENN: I got it. I got it. So Brandon, what we've got here is some -- an African-American that ran the Harvard Law Review -- so somebody who's a lawyer, and a lawyer, that's important. An African-American that was the first to run the Harvard Law Review. Also someone who could be a professor -- see Woodrow Wilson -- and somebody also that you could have a beer with. Well, sounds like the qualifications that make sense. I think anyone historically speaking would look back at this time and this conversation and say, "You know what, Brandon knew how to pick em. He really had his priorities in order and he understands the history of lawyers, professors, and people you can have a beer with." That's bringing a stick to a gun fight, for the love of Pete. If you are a college student and you're for Obama, I'd sure love to hear from ya. I'd love to hear a great case on why you should vote for Barack Obama.