Despite all of the jokes and misplaced campaign rhetoric, it is the experiences of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that have set them apart - set them above - the crowded Democratic field that started the race for their party's nomination so many months ago.Clinton's experience as first lady often is derided as "secondhand," or somehow invalid. Actually, it gave her a perspective on the possibilities and limitations of the presidency that no other candidate for the office ever has had.
Beyond that, she has been a senator for the past eight years, carving out her own political niche on the national scene. Her service on the Senate Armed Services Committee has involved her intimately in the details of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, subjects the next commander in chief will need to come to terms with immediately.
Obama was born to an American mother and Kenyan father, raised in a multicultural environment, graduated with an Ivy League education and worked as a community organizer on the streets of Chicago before becoming a civil rights lawyer. His life and experiences reflect the diversity of America in ways no other presidential candidate has experienced.
He points to the richness of these experiences as the reason he has earned a reputation of uniting people around what he describes on his Web site as the "politics of purpose" - getting people to work beyond their partisan differences to achieve common goals.
These are both extraordinarily talented candidates, but it is Obama's ability to reach beyond the partisan divide and gather in support that prompts The Enquirer to give him our endorsement for the Democratic nomination.
The true differences on policy between Obama and Clinton - on Iraq, on trade and a host of other issues, are narrow.
On health care, we prefer his approach of lowering costs rather than mandating participation.
Obama and Clinton both say ending the war in Iraq, while preserving U.S. security, would be their top priority upon taking office. Both say they would consult with the military experts and withdraw American forces and quickly as prudently possible. This will be a clear point of debate in the general election with John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
Clinton has shown herself to be an able senator, with an impressive grasp of details. But she remains for many in this country a polarizing figure.
Much of that dislike undoubtedly is residual disapproval of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and his policies and performance in office. That may be unfair to her, but it remains a fact of political life.
But her own style has opened her to criticism as well. Her major public policy involvement during her husband's administration was the failed attempt to come up with a universal health care policy.
Critics remember her closed-door, high-handed and uncompromising approach, which drew opposition from many Democrats as well as Republicans and doomed the initiative.
She says she has learned from those mistakes, yet her style often seems abrasive and superior when criticized.
A president must be able to make hard decisions but must also be able to face - even welcome - dissenting views and understand that there can be validity in the opposition.
Obama has been on the national stage for a relatively short time, but in that time he has demonstrated an ability and a willingness to work with others. He does not waste time demonizing those with different views.
One obvious example is his work with Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., on a new non-proliferation effort with Russia designed to keep nuclear weapons from falling into terrorist hands. He also lists the need for coming up with a workable, bipartisan national energy policy as one of the first things he would tackle in office.
But perhaps Obama's most impressive achievement so far is the excitement he has engendered in the political process itself.
He is a gifted public speaker, and the energy he brings to his campaign seems to have brought many people, including many young people, into the political process for the first time.
Obama has an undeniable appeal that is attracting people of divergent backgrounds. He seems able to find ways to work even with people who don't share his views.
We believe that of the two, he has the better chance at quickly creating the working coalitions that would allow for the progress a new administration will need in dealing with the issues at hand.
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