@Milena: I found the criticism from Guilianni and Palin odd because they were both mayors and know good and damn well what community organizing is. Especially Guilianni so perhaps their comments reflect a disdain for people who call them out on their foolishness.

But you are right in that it can be a rather ambiguous title. It lends itself very easily to criticism which, as I mentioned can be a good thing as it may demand people to think more about what community organizing is and how it relates to their lives.

@Lance - you are right on about the spin issue. For me, Obama's relative experience has never been an issue in whether or not I would vote for him.

@Allison - I'm not trying to knock people who fulfill this role, as anyone who selflessly serves for the good of their community should be commended. I do think the title community organizer could indicate a wide variety of levels of involvement and accomplishment, so people wonder where does/did Obama fit in that array? Taken alone, the title community organizer doesn't imply a specific set of goals, tasks, or accomplishments, but could vary widely.

Also, is the title given to someone or can they declare themselves a community organizer? I think that makes a difference to critics. The impression of ambiguity and the do-it-oneself nature of being a community organizer lends itself to questioning the role as it relates to leadership. Again, this doesn't mean a community organizer hasn't made a considerable impact, it's just unfortunate that Obama's accomplishments are judged on technicalities of vocabulary. Community organizer may be the easiest way to sum up his accomplishments, but it also lends itself to misunderstanding and confusion.

In any role, in public or private life, without standards and accountability, we are hard-pressed to determine how successful someone has been in their role. For example, in my previous job, I was a client associate. That is probably meaningless to most people, and should be, the title alone doesn't imply anything beyond you could guess I was some kind of assistant.

If you asked me, I did far more than most assistants. If you asked my bosses, you could find out how effective I was at the tasks I was given to perform.

Obama's level of experience was never an issue for me, but I think the frustration many opposed to Obama's claims of excellence as a community organizer is because by its nature, we cannot accurately determine what he accomplished based on goals that were set before he began his work. Of course, one has to wonder, have they bothered to look? Perhaps instead of criticizing the ambiguity of the role, you should ask Obama what he did do. You should ask his communities if he was successful at accomplishing the goals they set together.

Unfortunately, even if Obama was the most successful community organizer on earth, it wouldn’t get me to vote for him. (But maybe cutting taxes, encouraging free trade and cutting social programs would!!) He has wonderful qualities as a human being, but I don’t support many of his policies as President.

@Kevin -

I don't understand what about my comment you disagree with. I never said Obama's work wasn't admirable, furthermore I said that people unfamiliar with what he has done should look into it before they criticize him.

I was trying to elucidate that most people are not familiar with what exactly a community organizer does, it is not a title that in and of itself implies a strict set of responsibilities or skills, such as attorney, or mayor.

As for the Republican party's mockery, I will not defend the isolated individuals who take part in it, but neither is the Democratic party is not innocent where mockery is concerned.