Sometimes when we judge candidates for elected office, our criteria are too complex. We cannot support A because his ideology is not exactly the same as ours. B is too short. C once took a position on an issue and has since changed his mind, so is a waffler. D is divorced. E's religious beliefs are not mainstream. There seems to be thousands of characteristics that disqualify (or qualify) that cloud the fundamentals. How about love of our country and its founding principles? How about a decent human being that cares for people and like a good father wants us to grow and prosper. How about someone that believes, above all else, that individual freedom is the number one priority. How about someone that typifies American values and this trait is recognized by everyone around the world.

When I was born, FDR was President. He was an elitist, a statist and possibly much worse. Harry Truman was a common man that people made fun of but in retrospect did not embarrass or undermine us. Ike was a General that didn't like war and warned us that the cronies and the military with their big budgets were very dangerous. Kennedy was a playboy and with Jackie and his other chicks, gave us a sleazy, Hollywood image. Johnson was a redneck, political hack that only wanted all the power he could achieve using his arm twisting and backroom dealings.Nixon WAS a crook, after all. Ford was nice guy but was bashed because he was clumsy, hit people with golf balls at the Bob Hope and gave people the idea that he played football at Michigan without a helmet. Carter was and is the most naïve fool that we could have found that led us into one mess after another. Reagan, a second rate actor, played the role of president and achieved better results than the quacks that supposedly were smarter and "true" political leaders. GHWB was another good guy that people hated and made fun of his strengths so no one would proclaim them virtues. Clinton is the result of some Democrat laboratory cloning experiment, combining the worst characteristics of Kennedy, Johnson and FDR. GWB only became president because of his dad's friends and was not smart enough to do much of anything on his own so Cheney was a "shadow" President that hid behind Bush and pulled the strings. Obama is the public death wish that we have brought upon ourselves as punishment for all of our bad choices.

It is amazing that America survives but it tells us that the ideals, even when distorted, slandered and sneered at, are hard to erase from the public conscience. I am asking very little of the next President. He will not be an Objectivist, or even a Libertarian but how about if he is just honest, obviously, actually respects the country and just isn't embarrassing. You would not think that it would be too difficult to find one guy like that in a nation of 330 million people.

No one who wants the job should be elected to it. It's true for any political job, but the "higher" you go, the truer it is.
It should be filled by random drawing - you get the purple envelope in the mail and "OH, AUDITS! I have to be a Senator this year!" and If you can bribe, influence, threaten - anything you can do to get out of it - you should be allowed to. We don't want you.