Some Free Political Advice

I’d like to offer some free political advice as we today (February 1, 2016) are set to see the first official balloting of the 2016 Presidential campaign--the Iowa Caucus for both major political parties.

My advice is this: Look at the overall situation and don’t focus too much on minute details of one or two issues--unless those issues are far more important to you than anything else. The reality is that no candidate has been, is now, or ever will be perfect. The reality is that it is almost certain that you will not be in 100% agreement with any candidate. The reality is that the next person elected President of the United States will almost certainly be the nominee of either the Democrat or Republican Party.

I have elsewhere (http://peteshodgepodge.blogspot.com/2016/01/at-this-point-my-preferred-candidate-is.html) stated my preferred candidate (at least as of this point in time), but this writing isn’t about that. This writing is about encouraging people to make the best choices according to their own personal preferences and understandings as to what the United States of America should be, and what each person believes that the President of the United States should represent.

While issues and principles are indeed important, they should not necessarily be the “end all” aspect of supporting a Presidential candidate. Some people might align perfectly with your views on the issues, while at the same time making a bad President. Let me give this example: The person with whom I almost certainly agree most closely on political issues is the author of this writing (yes, that would be me). But I would not make a good President of the United States; there are too many characteristics and traits which I possess that would make me personally ineffective as the President of the United States. There are many, many people far more qualified to hold that office.

Accordingly, the best way for me to choose a candidate to support must include not only the candidate’s stance on the issues, but also on intangibles--such as how effectively I believe the candidate would perform the duties of President of the United States. This includes taking into consideration matters of personality, leadership, trustworthiness, and the ability to inspire people (to name a few).

When it comes to the candidate whom I am personally (thus far) supporting, I have found -- at least according to one test found this site: http://www.isidewith.com/elections/... -- that on the issues alone, I side more with one candidate than the one whom I am currently supporting. However, it is the intangibles that play an important part in my decision-making process. According to the test I mentioned, I actually agree 95% with a particular candidate (in the interest of full disclosure, I am indeed a registered Republican, so it makes sense that I personally would generally be in highest agreement with Republican rather than Democrat candidates, but for Democrats, the opposite would likely be true, and that is as it should be). However, although I agree 95% with a particular candidate on the issues (and on the importance I give to the issues), that person is not my preferred candidate. The candidate I prefer is one with whom I agree (again, according to the test) 91% of the time.

In my opinion (and according to my personal political views), the overall “candidate package” makes siding with the candidate with whom I agree 91% on the issues preferable to the candidate with whom I agree on 95% of the issues.

For the record, the test reveals that the agreement I have with the stated views on the issues ranges on the Republican side from a high of 95% to a low of 71%. As to the candidates on Democrat side, my range of agreement goes from a high of 24% to a low of 7%. I would expect that for people who generally support Democrat issues and policies, those numbers would be pretty much reversed. But that’s the way it should be.

The bottom line is this: vote according to your conscience, taking into consideration policy issues, but also giving credence to intangibles. That’s my free advice, and it’s worth every penny you’ve paid for it!