I know it’s not popular to be critical of Barack Obama, but the more I watch his debate participation, the more I watch him speak in general, I become further convinced that he’s just not ready to be President. People want to like him for a variety of reasons — and there’s a good case to be made for all of them. He’s young, handsome, charismatic. Electing the son of a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas would send a strong message to the world of what America really is — inclusive, tolerant, international. And an African American President would be a huge step away from the days of Jim Crow and American apartheid — it would be as if the entire country stood up and collectively declared that the past is finally behind us. But these aren’t reasons to elect a President.

Andrew Sullivan, the only conservative blogger I read on a daily basis, is enamoured with Obama, despite his liberal tendencies. I suspect it’s his anti-Hillary hysteria that puts him in the Obama camp — he accepts things from Obama that he would never accept from Hillary Clinton. Usually Sullivan is a good judge of political figures, but I think he misses the fact that Obama, on issues of real substance, is a bit of a lightweight. Sure he sounds good, but his words are often empty without the requisite policy ideas to back them up.

Not to bring another conservative into it, but Charles Krauthammer offers a pretty good analysis of Obama’s problems in the last debate, particularly his enthusiasm for meeting with the leaders of nations openly hostile to the United States. Typically, if Charles Krauthhammer were to declare the sky blue and the grass green, I would have to get independent scientific verification before I believed him, but in the case of Obama, he’s spot on. Obama is inexperienced — particularly in the realm of foreign policy — and it shows in his answers to foreign policy questions.

As immersed as I am in foreign policy because of where I work, I have a pretty good sense of whether or not a candidate gets it. Obama really doesn’t. I like for Presidents to have a greater grasp on the issues than I have, and I’m not sure he does.

The more I watch Hillary Clinton, however, the more I think she’s suited for the Presidency. Smart, strong and pragmatic, Hillary is a real veteran of American politics. Although she was wrong on Iraq, she’s right on just about everything else — and her recent jousting with the Defense Department has allayed a lot of my previous fears regarding her stance on the war. The far right considers her a socialist, but save for the botched health care plan in the early 1990′s, there’s been little evidence to suggest that she is. The hard left views her as a traitor, a triangulator, someone who doesn’t share their convictions. But who’s to say that Obama does? After watching him closely since his appearance at the Democratic convention, I have to say that I still don’t quite know what he stands for.

I don’t like Hilary’s personality, her shameless pandering to certain audiences, her “stand by man” faux hick routine during the 1992 campaign. But I respect her strength — this is a woman who doesn’t flinch from going toe-to-toe with the Republicans. If she gets hit, she hits back harder. After six years of Bush and watching the GOP relentlessly beating up anyone who disagreed with them, we need someone who can hold her own in a fight.

I think it’s also important to note that the country knows everything it needs to know about Hillary Clinton. She’s been savaged by the right wing smear machine for 15 years. There are no secrets, no more skeletons — we’ve seen them all. In some ways, she’s immune from being Swiftboated — there isn’t a single American who hasn’t heard of Travelgate, Monicagate, White Water, etc.

But Obama is a political novice. Opposition research on him has only just started — what secrets does he have, what lies has he told? What sketchy Chicago land deals has he been involved with? These are things that will come out during the next election, and I’m not sure that he will weather the storm as well as Bill Clinton did.

Let Obama cook for another 8 years in the Senate — given time, I think he could make a great President. He just isn’t ready, yet. But Hillary is ready — and that’s why I think people should take a good objective look at her. You don’t have to like her — I certainly don’t. But as a candidate, she really is the best we could hope for in the post-Bush era.

And ask your self this: do we really need another amateur in the White House?