Posted by Rachel on: 08.24.2006 /
With the next presidential election just two years away, pundits are already speculating on who will be the candidates in 2008. Putting aside for the moment the leading contenders, suppose you could create your own “dream candidate” — someone you could be really excited to support.
What would your perfect presidental candidate be like? What background, training and personal characteristics would your candidate have? What would be his or her overriding philosophy? What would his or her political platform contain? What issues would he or she regard as the top priority?
Comment by: Eliza
1 08/24/06 4:31 PM | Comment Link |I’m not sure I can picture a perfect president - or, more to the point, a perfect candidate for president (since someone I think is perfect is probably not all that likely to win - going by past examples, at least ;) ). But I can describe some features I think would be very important to approaching “perfection” - one is solid, overt and openly expressed egalitarianism, both in the candidate’s public comments and in his or her personal beliefs and actions. For this country, I think it’s important to have a president who really believes that all people are created equal.
Also, someone who is thoughtful and level-headed, who seeks information about topics important for the president to deal with, and discusses potential approaches with people of various ideologies, considering the pros & cons & long-term ramifications - and who can, at least most of the time, come to a meaured, hopefully wise (Solomon-like?) position - with speed when necessary, with deliberation when not. One who doesn’t take significant action unless it really seems warranted, and useful, for the U.S. as well as for the world.
Comment by: jim
2 08/24/06 5:21 PM | Comment Link |I would like someone who was willing to sacrifice their political future in order to lead. I have never seen this especially on the presidential level but hey its a dream
Comment by: Rachel
3 08/25/06 6:51 AM | Comment Link |My 10 year old daughter weighed in on this issue a few days ago. She was reading the newspaper and she asked me, “Mom, how long till we get a new president?” I said that we had a couple more years to go. She said, “Listen to this” and read the following out loud:
President Bush laid down an impassioned defense of his Iraq policy Monday, saying the United States must stay in the fight despite an escalating death toll, increasing calls for the withdrawal of US troops and growing public sentiment against the war.
Then she said, “Mom, we need a lady president. I know that there are some ladies who are mean. But I still think a lady would do a better job of listening to people.” :)
Comment by: Rachel
4 08/25/06 7:14 AM | Comment Link |I agree, Eliza. I would love to see a candidate who would focus on bringing the country together and identifying common ground issues that the large majority of Americans could agree on.
I read about something called “The Common Ground Project for Life and Choice” where they brought together a group of pro-choice and pro-life people for a dialogue. They were asked to set aside their differences about the legality of abortion and find areas of agreement. They came up with a whole list of proposals: greater focus on teen pregnancy prevention, promoting adoption, increased child support enforcement, greater support for work/family issues, ending violence against abortion providers, etc.
I think that the project provides an excellent model for the kind of discussion and dialogue we need more of in our political arena. I would love to see a presidential candidate who focused on areas of consensus and put forth a positive vision.
Comment by: Mike O
5 08/25/06 8:35 AM | Comment Link |Anybody but this guy!
Thanks for the video, Helen!
Comment by: Rachel
6 08/25/06 9:16 AM | Comment Link |Oh my gosh! Doesn’t the congressman know that The Colbert Report is a spoof show? Nobody’s that dumb…are they??
Comment by: lisa w
7 08/25/06 12:04 PM | Comment Link |Rachel, Your daughter sounds awesome!
Comment by: jim
8 08/25/06 2:03 PM | Comment Link |Eliza - you did an outstanding job this week- very thoughtful - Thanks
Comment by: Rachel
9 08/26/06 5:45 PM | Comment Link |Thanks, Lisa! I think so too! She definitely has opinions…I have noooo clue where she got that from. :) She was telling me earlier about some frustrations she has about her Sunday School class. So I told her to email Jim - I said he is a guy who likes to hear people’s ideas about church.
Comment by: Eliza
10 08/27/06 8:30 PM | Comment Link |:) Hope they get into a fruitful discussion! She like she has some good ideas!
Thanks, Jim - Rachel and I split the week so half of the credit is hers! Rachel, thanks for your topics and posts this week. I would have said more, but am on a slow dial-up connection from a cabin in Idaho & have only peeked in a few times - mostly have been outside enjoying summer!
Comment by: Doreen
11 08/28/06 1:30 PM | Comment Link |My candidate would not be a millionnaire.
My candidate would not be the child of a millionaire.
My candidate would not be an attorney.
My candidate would have plants and/or animals (even plastic plants and stuffed animals count).
My candidate would have lived in at least 5 different states for at least 3 years each.
My candidate would have traveled to at least 4 countries outside the US.
My candidate would be multilingual.
Those would be good for starters….
Comment by: Benjamin Ady
12 10/10/06 5:32 PM | Comment Link |I would want a president who did not want to be president. I think we should have a draft for president, where you have to serve if you are drafted and elected. I want a president who has lived for at least two years outside the U.S., and ideally outside the west. I want a president who speaks at least 3 languages fluently. I want a president who is committed to reducing U.S. prison population (and not by killing them). I want a president who is committed to bringing universal health care to the United States. I want a president who wants to tear down, rather than build more, the wall between Mexico and the U.S. I want a president who thinks the one campaign is a brilliant idea. I want a president who has zero connections with big oil companies and big arms companies, and who would be thrilled to see arms companies go out of business (like reliant techsystems, for instance, or big chunks of honeywell). I want a president who will find a way to channel U.S. dollars to quickly clean up the UXO problem in countries where we’ve created that problem (laos, for instance, and vietnam), even though those countries don’t want money connected to the U.S. government for this purpose (understandably so!). I want a president who is committed to reducing the portion of the federal budget that goes to “defense” by 50%. I want a president who wants to spend more on higher education than we do on offense (oops, did I say “offense”–I guess that would be “defense”. I want a president whose ardor for professional sports is prioritatively similar to my own (I suppose you can guess what that means). I want a president who is not ashamed of the fact that he is a recoring ___________ and who feels at home in a 12 step meeting. I want a president who is totally committed to cutting world nuclear weapon stockpiles in half during his one term, starting here. I want a president who cannot be convinced to run for a second term.
Comment by: Rachel
13 10/10/06 7:11 PM | Comment Link |Your candidate would definitely get my vote, Ben!