Being president of the bar is like being den mother to a Cub Scout troop. It's great for learning how to bring people together and manage them, but doesn't have a thing to do with actually practicing law.
Sure it does. It's more than just a management position. The bar associations elect someone who is their voice to the state, who is ambitious enough to keep maverick lawyers in check, who will go after abusive lawyers, who will stand up to politicians, who can appeal to both liberal and conservative attorneys, who can determine proper pro bono recipients and determine where bar grants might best be spent. However, if she were only the president of the bar (i.e., some MBA or something), I would agree with you, but she has a law degree and she has practiced law. Ergo, she can understand legal reasoning, read and understand the Constitution, laws and decisions and even speak a little latin. She can research history and argue her point of view logically and persuasively.