Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility 

What I want from a presidential candidate

Forget about gender. Forget about ideology. Forget about personal mistakes that the candidate may have made in the past. Forget about religion. Those aren't the things that I care about.

I want a President that will be an effective leader in times of war. I want a President that is, at his or her core honest. I want a President that doesn't want the power of the Presidency to build a legacy.

I want a President that reads and understands our Constitution. I want a President that understands the framework that the founders gave us. I want a President that understands the limitations on the federal government and is willing to stand for the Constitution with a veto when necessary. I want a President that knows when something is authorized to the federal government, and when something should be left to the States to decide.

I want a President that understands that there is nothing wrong with people depending upon one another for their livelihood, but that there is everything wrong with people depending on their government for their livelihood.

I want a President that has the convictions and the courage of those convictions to say NO when the Congress sends him a pork-laden omnibus spending package. I want a President that understands that if you don't have the time to actually READ a bill that you shouldn't vote for it, and when you're the President you certainly shouldn't sign it if it's so complex that it defies common understanding.

Maybe "nothing will get done" with such a President. My ideal President understands that we don't need to have the Congress drafting legislation just for the sake of passing ever more and ever more complex laws. Maybe Congress is so corrupt that every one of those vetoes will be overridden. My ideal President is an idealist that believes in the Constitution and will use his Constitutional powers for the good of the Nation and not for the good of a political party.

I want a President that says "we will ENFORCE the laws on the books, no matter WHO is violating them". I want a President that will not stand idly by when the powers of the Presidency are usurped by Congressmen or Congresswomen.

I want a President that rewards success, and not just good intentions. I want a President that secures our borders. I want a president that ensures that our nation is defended from enemies both foreign AND domestic.

I want a President that is willing to negotiate with our enemies for a just and lasting peace. But I do NOT want a President that is willing to give up our nations' sovereignty to ANY nation, group of nations, or non-governmental organization.

I want a President that believes in the sanctity of human life. I want a President that respects other forms of life, but is unwilling to allow the sacrifice of human life for a subspecies of fish, no matter how rare.

Name one such candidate from any of today's political parties, whether they be the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, or any other party. Prove to me that your candidate meets my criteria for the ideal President.

Maybe then I'll be happy when I go to the polling place (although it's probably going to end up being my mailbox despite my feelings about potential election fraud) next November. Otherwise, like every time I've gone to the polling place it'll end up being me choosing the lesser of two evils.

What do YOU want from your ideal Presidential candidate?

This linkfest is for the 23rd of October, 2007.

If you have something interesting you'd like to share, feel free to link it here and leave a trackback.

Just remember the trackback policy.

For the best exposure, go to the blogger's oasis and use the linkfest chooser to choose the posts you'd like to hook up with.