The central (substantive) argument this week in the presidential campaign is over “the experience question.” Does Hillary’s experience trump Barack’s? Does McCain’s trump them both? Does it matter? Is judgment worth more than experience?Instead of looking to blowhard pundits for an answer, how about historical data? Were good presidents more experienced than bad presidents? This totally geeky historical analysis has a resounding answer – NO.

For example, Abraham Lincoln had 8 years in the Illinois legislature, 2  in the U.S. House, and then became president. Sound like anyone else we know?

If you love Excel charts, scatterplots, wikipedia and Obama, you’re sure to get a kick out of it.