[Mr. Silverback]

We nominate at our own peril someone whose only executive experience and achievement is playing a president onstage.

So in 1860 you would have backed Fernando Wood over Lincoln?

[Mia T]

;) Rudy Giuliani is no Fernando Wood and, perhaps more important, Fred Thompson is no Lincoln.

However, Lincoln actually did have executive experience. He had been captain in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War and he had run a store.

That said, the country, the world and the presidency are much more complex constructs today. Technology and terrorism can extinguish cities—maybe even countries—in a flash, so I am not so sure that historical analogies are especially relevant....