What We Want in a President

All the gotcha politics going on. Questions about who you know and how much you disavow every mean and nasty statement they ever said that was caught on YouTube.

This leads to presidential candidates who won't talk to anyone who doesn't agree with them slavishly on every issue. Who is the perfect candidate under this system? George Bush! He hasn't talked to or seen a dissenting voice or person in years. No gotchas for George. No wonder Rove and the Republicans have developed this sort of politics.

Of course, if everyone ran on their actual political platform, it isn't clear that Republicans would get elected as much as they now do. Better to distract attention away from economic issues towards social issues. Even better, to distract towards non-issues like: Are you patriotic? Do you wear a lapel pin? Is your second cousin's third Aunt's second sister a communist? Do you disavow all knowledge of her?

You'd better.