Senator McCain was asked the same question six months earlier. The staff, realizing the question might be asked again, prepared Obama with an answer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/business/02digi.html?_r=2&...
COME ON. We all know Obama didn't come up with that answer but his on the ball staffers make him look good. And Just like a CEO has to delegate a lot of work, the president has to delegate nearly everything.
Obama might be human gold with a soft diamondy center, but unless he actually has people who can do what needs to be done then it's useless. I think it's highly illustrated by the McCain campaign that he didn't have subordinates capable of doing the job right because he looked as warn out and tired as Bush does currently. McCain looked physically flabbergasted by what he was asked, he'd have looked better just holding up the frigging piece of paper his speech writers gave him.
But won't the managerial magic prevent the guy that can't push a button from working at the till there or at least fire him quickly?
I would have been more impressed if he said the MLB instituting a hard salary cap rather than that silly luxury tax.
Obama is smarter than McCain. He's smarter than Bush. He's smarter than me, if you can believe it.
But do I care if Obama can:
1) Fix my toilet?
2) Balance my books?
3) Remove my appendix?
4) Parge my lath?
5) Sort my integers?
No. All trivia.
Unfortunately, making the government responsible for appendix-removal is one of the things which Obama wants to do. Comparing my experiences in US hospitals ("Oh hi, here's a bed and two nurses, your surgeon and his team will be along in ten minutes") to my experiences in Australian hospitals ("Oh hi, here's a wheelchair, please wait here for six hours") I really am not keen to see the US system become more like the Australian one.
The trick would be to design a system where some minimum is guaranteed for everyone, and things are nicer for those willing to pay more.
INCONCEIVABLE!
Did we expect him to answer like a prospective google hire? A modified quick sort thats guarded not to recurse too many levels deep to avoid any stack overflow errors? I'm impressed that he made an effort to connect at the techie-level.
I think the intent of the tech-savvy staffers who briefed him was like when a comedian makes a reference to the Yankees while performing in NYC
Indeed, but have you asked that question of presidential candidates?
Certainly, knowing the answer to that question, or knowing what a bubble sort even is, doesn't make or break a candidate. But all else being equal, wouldn't you rather a president who took at least one course on computer science?
Sure it is a little thing, but I found myself saying "all other things being equal" a lot about Obama. All those things added up: I voted for him.