Obama Tackles Experience Question In Maine

Making his first campaign appearance in this state, Democrat Barack Obama on Tuesday tackled a question that's still on the minds of many voters: Is he experienced enough to be president?

Obama is about halfway through his first term in the Senate, but he said such a short time in Washington is not necessarily a bad thing.

"A long resume does not guarantee good judgment," he said, naming Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld as examples.

Both were key planners of the Iraq war that Obama, a senator from Illinois, says never should have been waged.

Obama spoke to some 2,000 people at the Portland Expo about the need for change in government health care, economic and foreign policies.

But he said it's also time for a basic change in the political system so Americans can rally behind a common purpose.

"It's still possible for us as Americans - not as Democrats, Republicans or independents, but as Americans - to join together and do great things," he said.

The hand-clapping, sign-waving crowd that paid $23 apiece for admission cheered repeatedly and rose to its feet during Obama's 35-minute speech. If elected, he said he would get out of Iraq, introduce universal health care coverage, change the tax code and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

America also needs to improve its "moral standing" in the world by being more open to listening and negotiating with others, he said.

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Summer Johnson said Obama shouldn't talk about "moral standing" when he sat out a Senate vote on a measure to condemn the liberal interest group MoveOn.org for a newspaper ad criticizing Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

"It seems Obama plays to the kind of politics set forth to him by MoveOn.org," Johnson said.

A fundraiser was planned after the rally at the Cape Elizabeth home of Robert A.G. Monks, a longtime Republican financier who has run unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Senate three times. His son, Robert C.S., is chairman of the Obama for Maine Committee.

Supporters hoped to raise more than $300,000 for Obama's campaign from the rally and the reception, the younger Monks said.