But it gave the wrong answer.

Obama then got the answer just as colossally wrong.

Playing on anxieties about national security, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has produced a “red phone moment” advertisement that suggests she would be better able to respond to a crisis than Senator Barack Obama.

“It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep,” says a narrator as threatening music surges over dark black-and-white images.

There’s a world crisis and the White House phone is ringing. “Your vote will decide who answers that call,” the narrator says. “Whether it’s someone who already knows the world’s leaders, knows the military — someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world.”

It ends with a photo of Mrs. Clinton wearing glasses and picking up the phone.
Mr. Obama, responding to the ad during a stop in Houston, said it raised “a perfectly legitimate question.”

But let's be honest here -- the presidential candidate who is best qualified to pick up that phone is not Hillary Clinton. It is Senator John McCain, whose experience in and knowledge of the United States military is head and shoulders superior to that of either Democrat.

McCain knows, from personal experience, the cost of an incorrect decision to use -- or not use -- military force in defense of the United States. Neither of the Democrats has such experience. Neither of them has children currently serving in the US military.

McCain knows those world leaders, too -- and has greater experience with and greater respect from those leaders. After all, he has been in a policymaking role for decades, not making good-will visits and hosting state dinners as First Lady or voting present in a state legislature.

Who do I want picking up that phone at 3 a.m.? Who should any American want taking that call?

A neophyte politician -- long on rhetorical skills but short on qualifications?

A woman who loathes the military and who is seeking high public office the old-fashioned way -- using her husband's coattails to obscure her own lack of accomplishments?

Or a bona fide military hero from a family that has served the nation in the United States military with distinction for generations?

The answer should be obvious -- and I respectfully question the wisdom of anyone who disagrees.

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