A former U.S. Air Force chief of staff told New Hampshire voters yesterday that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has the judgment and life experience to be commander in chief.

"He's not self-centered, he's reasonable, he's not trying to prove he's tougher than his daddy," Gen. Tony McPeak told a dozen people at the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation in Franklin. "He's a guy in the Oval Office that senior military can respect and salute in a way that we've seen lacking previously."

In an election where military and foreign policy are central issues, Obama, like many presidential candidates, has no military experience. As a first-term U.S. senator, he also has little formal experience in foreign policy, although he has lived abroad, spending part of his childhood in Indonesia.

McPeak, who spent 37 years in the Air Force, sounded a common theme in Obama's campaign when he told the Monitor that Obama's life experience makes up for any deficit.

"He spent time overseas and grew up in Hawaii in a diverse culture with a lot of external influences," McPeak said.

He added that decision-making abilities and judgment are more important than legislative experience.

"A lot of experienced people voted to support the president in the Iraq war," he said, pointing to Obama's Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

Experts say that although Obama's military credentials are thin, they may not make as much of a difference as they once did. "Keeping

America safe used to be putting military credentials in the spotlight, but today it has more to do with national security," said former U.S. Ambassador George Bruno, now an immigration law attorney in Manchester. "Not only America's military role, but our approach to the fight against terrorism and our desire to have a strong U.S. economy and to have secure borders."

On the trail

Yesterday and Sunday, McPeak campaigned for Obama at house parties in Intervale, Gorham, Bethlehem, Franklin and Deerfield, and he toured the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton. His message, as he told Franklin voters, is that Obama is "head and shoulders above everyone else." He said Obama has good advisers, including Susan Rice, who was President Bill Clinton's assistant secretary of state for African affairs, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser.

McPeak praised Obama's ability to inspire and his toughness. He painted a grim picture of the war in Iraq and said, "Heading off a worst-case scenario requires imagination, hard work, someone without an ideology he wants to peddle to the world and someone who will be seen as an honest broker. Barack Obama is the only one who has those qualities."

Although McPeak believes top military officials still favor the Republican Party, he said they have been turned off by the current administration and would welcome a president like Obama.

Retired Laconia voter Edwin Allard said that after hearing the general, he could see himself supporting Obama. "Who's had experience the last seven years? Rumsfeld and Cheney. Look how that turned out," Allard said. "What's important is judgment. Can you make the right calls?"

Does military matter?

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