This is an interesting situation because it's one of the few things that can lead a Democrat to vote Republican or a Republican to vote Democrat. Who's running for the President himself/herself might be a PERSON that appeals to those beyond their party -and you need that to happen if he/she is going to have a good 4 years of working with both sides to get things accomplished.
The debate then becomes, which is more important: To vote on Policy or to Vote on the Presidential Candidate themselves.
-Sometimes candidates can flip-flop or straddle the line between the 2 parties making party affiliation itself a challenging basis to vote on.
-Sometimes the presidential candidate can be an incompetent idiot or power-hungry maniac, so voting on candidate alone becomes a challenge.
So what do you do? Do you stick with the party -regardless of who's the front runner, or do you abandon ship and align with whoever seems to be the best leader/person for the job?
As I said in my last post, the Policy lies with the People. If policy was in the hands of the President alone, it wouldn't be a presidency but tyranny. Ultimately the people of America have the final say when it comes to legislation and mandates being passed.
Therefore the President's job isn't primarily to set policies on Social Issues -or even economic ones for the most part. The President's main job is to REPRESENT the people, make sure no unjust laws are attempted to be past by Congress, act as a diplomat in foreign relations, and initiate key decisions -without being given the final say on them.
Technically you need a President who is also kind of like a Lawyer. And at any time should the President over-step their bounds they can be impeached and removed from that position. In other words: presidential candidates aren't written in stone any more than Presidents themselves are. Things can change.
So on both fronts, voting on Republican/Democratic Policy AND Voting on Presidential Candidates doesn't amount to as much as people think that it does if the WILL of the PEOPLE is not behind it.
Ultimately I think it's easier to vote based on Leadership/ Personhood of the candidates which is why I'm not inherently Democratic or Republican. I vote based on individual policies and individual leaders. There are corrupt leaders in both parties and there are good leaders in both parties. I'd rather focus on weeding out corruption itself.
When focusing your attentions of Presidential Candidates -which I think think is the most important thing between Policy v. Leader -there are some qualities I look for that mean more to be than a lot of the other bullsh*t and nonsense that gets pandered to people about the candidates.
1. Does the person actually CARE about the American people. Not, "Do they SAY they care?" -since all candidates do -but do you genuinely get the sense that they give a damn about the human beings living in this country? And not just the American citizens they like (which normally includes The Wealthy, The White, and Those in Power), but EVERYONE. Every American. The old, the poor, the gay, the non-Christian, the former-criminal, those recovering form drug addiction, the invisible, "the tired, the hungry..." EVERYONE.
And if not, who is being left-out by this person? And why? And what ramifications might that have on those particular Americans?
2. Is the person competent? No one likes an idiot President that seems to lack the comprehensive skills to actually fill their position. Does the person seem intelligent and capable? Do they give specific details or let their thoughts trail off into the midnight sky? Are they aloof or distinct?
3. Can the person be TRUSTED? Are they Trustworthy? Have they shown signs of lacking integrity, betrayal, miscommunication, misunderstanding, scandal, falsifying information... When they give their word to you, do you take it from them willingly or toss it in the trash beside you?
These are probably the 3 biggest factors I vote on. Do you Care about the people you will serve. Do you LISTEN to them? Are you smart enough to fulfill this dynamic/complex position? Are you going to screw the American people over?
This is why I'm not happy with some of the current candidates... and even some of the candidates we've had tagging along during this ride along the way. Most of the candidates that have been presented only care about themselves. They're about as competent as a toddler with the keys to a car and just as trustworthy behind the wheel.
WHY???????!!!! We're the freakin US of A! How did this happen??? This is worse than a Hell's Kitchen Nightmare. At least at the end of those shows things stand a good chance of moving forward in a positive light -inspite of the stupid people you had to weed through to get there.
How have we come to the end of this tunnel only to find the edge of a freakin cliff? ? ? ? ? . . . . .
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