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I think it's far more important to have the right philosophy and ethics than to have "executive experience." A President does not personally micro-manage the country; he has a cabinet, a large staff, and beneath him is a force of millions of civil servants doing the detail work. What the President needs to do is to set goals and sell them to the people. That's what Reagan did. There is no shortage of people with the necessary expertise in defense, foreign relations, economics, etc.; they will be beating down the door applying for jobs once the Presidential candidate is elected, if not before.

Incidentally, I think debates are a stupid way of selecting candidates, as is the expectation that a candidate is no good if he/she does not instantly know the name of the premier of Upper Volta, or similar trivia. A President almost never has to make quick decisions. He needs to confer with his staff. Yet debates reward people who seem "smart" because they can rattle off details and repeat slogans.