Integrity, experience, judgment and leadership ... these are, to me, the four essential characteristics that one should look for when selecting our next Commander in Chief. To me most candidates who have thrown their hats in the ring so far ... from both of our parties ... lack one or more of these attributes ... Hillary Clinton comes up short on judgment and integrity ... Donald Trump, on integrity ... Bernie Sanders, on experience and judgment ... Jen Bush, on judgment and leadership ... Marco Rubio, on experience and judgment ... Mark O'Malley, on integrity and judgement ... Rick Santorum, on leadership and experience ... Rand Paul, on experience and judgment ... Ben Carson, on experience ... Ted Cruz, on experience and integrity ... Lindsey Graham, on experience and leadership ... Chris Christie, on judgment ... Bobby Jindal, on leadership ... Lincoln Chafee, on all four ... Rick Perry, on judgment ... Jim Webb, on experience ... Mike Huckabee, on leadership ... Jim Gilmore, on leadersihip ... and, if he runs, Joe Biden, on integrity and leadership.
The only candidates that I feel have all four traits are George Pataki, Scott Walker, Carly Fiorino, and John Kasich ... none of whom are currently leading in the polls. And Pataki also seems to lack a certain personal dynamism to propel him even later in his campaigns. So this leaves us, I think, with Kasich, Walker and Fiorino ... any of whom, by this sifting process, might have a real eventual shot at the presidency. People, you first heard it here ...
Afterward: Thinking objectively, our current president had or has none of these four characteristics ... so there must have be something else that was at work in 2008 and 2012.
