Are you ready for a fast quiz on the background of candidates for President of the United States? Good. Here we go. Who earned a law degree and served in the Illinois state legislature for eight years? Then he ran for the United States Senate. Just two years later, he ran for President of the United States?

If you answered, "Barack Obama," you would be right. But there are two correct answers to this question. There was another man who fits the description. That man went on to be elected president - the president most historians consider number one when ranking all American presidents.

Ah-h-h. Now, you got it. Abraham Lincoln. The comparison on experience is uncanny. Educated as a lawyer. The same number of years of service in the state legislature. The same state - Illinois. The only difference is that in l858 when Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate, he was defeated by Stephen Douglas. He never served as a senator in Washington. Nevertheless, Lincoln campaigned for president in l860 and won the election.

The argument hurled at Obama by his opponents is that he has a "thin resume" to be running for president. That he does not have the "right experience" to serve in that high office. The latest wrinkle was an attempt to belittle the job of "community organizer" as some kind of amorphous left-wing activity. Sarah Palin introduced this attack with a sly smile in her debut speech at the Republican convention, and it is being replayed on the campaign trail by John McCain and his V.P. nominee.

They do not mention the choice Obama made when he became a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. He had been elected editor of the Harvard Law Review, and could have aimed at a position with one of the large Wall Street law firms that were paying entry-level salaries over one hundred thousand dollars to the top graduates of Ivy League law schools. Instead, Obama decided to work for $10,000 a year in a poor urban community, to help needy people improve their lives. What does that tell us about the man and his judgment? Was he putting his own career first or was he reaching out to help others and to learn in what ways their lives could be made better?

Judgment is defined according to my unabridged dictionary as "the capacity to make reasonable decisions, especially in regard to the practical affairs of life. Good sense. Wisdom." Another definition is "Mental ability to perceive and distinguish relationships and alternatives." Both definitions are valuable standards to use when considering candidates running for president this year or any year. An additional question is whether the candidate weighs the consequences of his or her statements and actions. The stakes are very high in the quest for the presidency. And consequences are always the end game in life.

Let's go back to Abraham Lincoln, and consider the essential qualities of his judgment. It is fair to say that we hope our presidents have sound judgment, that they are able to weigh all the formidable issues and events that occur in a rational manner with good sense and wisdom. We trust they will not behave in a rash manner when the fate of the nation hangs in the balance. How did Lincoln perform and meet this standard? Most historians give him high marks for judgment. Was he perfect in this quality? No. He had trouble finding the best commander for Union troops before he finally chose Ulysses Grant. Did he carefully weigh what the best time would be for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation? Yes. During his entire tenure in office, Lincoln spent endless hours consulting with advisors and wrestling by himself with the decisions to be made. He always considered the consequences of his actions. His single most important goal was to save the Union. And he was committed to ending slavery. He accomplished both goals.

Lincoln's speeches were eloquent and inspirational. The brief Gettysburg Address was overshadowed at the time, but it has become a cornerstone of our national beliefs. Lincoln was a gifted orator. His words rallied the Union troops and the people of the North during the long years of struggle and mounting casualties. His stirring Second Inaugural Address called for healing and reconciliation after the Civil War. Tragically, what Lincoln envisioned for the nation did not come to pass. After his assassination, the harsh era of Reconstruction followed.

Fast forward to the present and contrast Barack Obama and John McCain on the quality of their judgment on two very significant issues. John McCain talked about "going to Baghdad" almost immediately after the attacks on September 11, 2001. He continued to link Saddam Hussein to 9/11 despite evidence to the contrary, and voted in favor of the war. In sharp contrast, Obama spoke out against attacking Iraq in 2002 when he was in the Illinois legislature. He was not in the U.S. Senate when the vote was taken to give George Bush the power to use military force in Iraq. Obama remained adamantly opposed. Their judgment on this critical issue differed completely.

In the second crucial area, Barack Obama chose a man to be his running mate for Vice President whom he knew well from the Senate and as a candidate in the Democratic primary for president in 2008. Joe Biden is a six-term senator from Delaware and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. John Mc Cain chose a woman as his running mate, Sarah Palin, first term Governor of Alaska and former mayor of a town with under 7,000 inhabitants. Mc Cain, who met her once at a conference, has a reputation as a gambler in his political life. He describes himself as having taken personal risks in the past.

This time his critics say he has put the nation at risk by choosing Sarah Palin to be "one heartbeat away from the White House." John Mc Cain is 72 and has a history of melanoma. The choice of a vice president is often called the most important decision a candidate will make. With this judgment call, Mc Cain may have taken the greatest risk in his political career. However, the consequences may not only be in his personal life. They could affect the fate and future of the nation.

McCain's campaign slogan is "Country First." Perhaps it would best be changed to "Country Second."

Joyce S. Anderson's articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and other national publications. She is the author of "Courage in High Heels," ""Flaw in the Tapestry," "If Winter Comes" and "The Mermaids Singing." She can be reached at JSAWrite@aol.com.