President Trump has been a great disappointment to many of us--he simply does not have the extraordinary character, intelligence, collaborative skill, experience, or discipline to be the President of the United States. I too do not have the extraordinary qualities to be the President of the United States, few of us do. I believe this is an important consideration as we move closer and closer to the 2020 election. We must carefully consider which candidates truly exhibit the extraordinary energy, drive, collaborative skill, intelligence, experience, discipline, and character that will make them the best possible candidate to lead our country forward.
As we choose the best candidate for President of the United States, we must consider the following important factors.
No candidate will be perfect
At our most primitive places, we like to think that some are perfect for the job, but that will never be true--we're all a mix of strengths and challenges, and that will be true of the best candidates for President of the United States too. That means we have to prioritize what are the most important qualities with regard to leading well for our country today and into the future. I have listed the qualities I believe are most important below.
Character
We are a quickly changing world. We are increasingly becoming more and more interdependent with countries and peoples all around the world. The next President of the United States will have to face this challenge and be able to flexibly make the best possible decisions with regard to countless unexpected events. That's why I believe to have a President of the United States with good character is the most important priority. A presidential candidate with character will display the following attributes:
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Perseverance
- Gratitude
- Kindness/Courtesy
- Self-Control
- Honesty
- Cooperation
- Tolerance/Acceptance
- Friendship
- Courage
- Humor
- Humility
Intelligence
Most of us have had the experience of being in the presence of a highly intelligent individual--a person who can process information deeply, quickly, and accurately. These quick, bright individuals typically read well, analyze well, collaborate, understand, and make solid evidence-based decisions. These very bright people also are typically the most humble amongst us--those in the know are usually well aware of what they don't know and can't do too, and that's what makes them capable of choosing a diverse, representative leadership team of the best and brightest--intelligent experts in multiple fields that are able to work with the President to make the most critical decisions with regard to the issues the country faces and the goals/vision the country embraces.
Selfless, Courageous, and Enthusiastic
The best presidential candidate will be ready to dedicate themself to leading for the people of the United States, not for their own fame, gain, and ego. I always say that when ambition feeds mission it is rightly directed, but when ambition trumps mission, you've got a problem. The next President of the United States needs to be at a place in life where they can wholly devote themself to the job with good energy, courage, and a will to serve the people of the United States. That person has to be willing to get out there, be with the people, and experience the diverse geography and events that make up our great, diverse country--the best candidate will have the courage and enthusiasm to know who the American people are, and how to lead with best possible collaboration and skill to serve ALL of those people.
Visionary
The next President of the United States needs to be a visionary, someone who will not only work well for the day, but also work well for the future making our country strong, not only for us, but for our children and grandchildren. The best candidate will be able to see the future with respect to understanding the greatest needs nationally and internationally with regard to supporting a safe, strong, wonderful country that provides the opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.
Healthy, Energetic, and Unencumbered
We need to elect a healthy, energetic candidate who is not weighted down with past problems, great family needs, or other constraints that will prevent that person from leading in an honest, energized, unencumbered way. Candidates who have burdensome emotional problems, family struggles, legal issues, or great health issues will be more compromised than those who have greater freedom to lead.
Experienced
America's disillusionment with politics and government has translated, in part, to the disregard for government experience. I think this is a mistake. To understand the law and understand how the government works makes the best candidate ready to start leading on day one of their presidency. If the next president is not experienced, we waste a lot of good time with regard to the good work possible. Experience matters.
An Honest look at Mistakes and Error
Our primitive selves have a difficult time seeing the relative importance of errors and mistakes. At our most basic selves, we tend to judge errors that we understand as more significant than errors that are complex and outside of our experience. We have to look at mistakes and errors with the following questions:
- When did the error happen, why, and was it repeated?
- Was the mistake made with a will to cheat, fool, trick or harm, or was the error made with good intentions and a person's best knowledge/ability at the time?
- What is the rate of error the candidate demonstrates, and do those errors represent a will to break and/or disregard the law, hurt/harm others, cheat?
- Do the errors demonstrate a general lack of values or are the errors common human errors impacted by experience and the times.
No candidate for President of the United States will be perfect, but it's critical that we don't elect the next President with a knee-jerk, shallow response. Instead we must listen to, and learn about, each candidate so that we choose the individual with the best character, intelligence, health, energy, experience, and ability to serve.
I have thought a lot about all of these characteristics. At the moment, Elizabeth Warren is my top candidate for President of the United States in the next election. She has proved herself in the Senate by taking up and making good change with deep, complicated issues that affect all of us. She is running a grass roots campaign, and demonstrating her tireless energy in getting to know many, many Americans as she travels the country. Her will to serve ALL Americans is rightly directed, and her intelligence and experience makes her humble, collaborative, and able to serve with a diverse group of America's best and brightest--she will not focus her leadership on harmful nepotism and cronyism, but instead surround herself with intelligent, experienced experts in order to help everyone in our country live good lives--she's not just focused on a wealthy few like Trump, but instead she's focused on what's best for a big, diverse, and awesome country.
All Americans have to do their homework for the 2020 election. Even if a person's looks, personality, family life, fame, or glamour appeals to them, they have to fight agains those primitive instincts to choose that way, and instead look deeper and think about who truly has the best qualities to be the next President--who will lead the country ahead for all of us, not just a few?
We can do better America, and that betterment depends on all all of us. Please do your homework. Work for betterment for self, family, neighbor and the community. We deserve an extraordinary new President as the result of the 2020 elections--elections that will occur in just over a year ahead.
