Fit to Lead: Saturday Political Soap Box 112

Who is fit to lead this country?

Disregarding polls, who actually has the experience, intelligence, pragmatism, empathy and judgement to become the effective and decisive leader we will need in both crisis and in day to day management?

I have tried to not judge on the basis of political ideology, but on the basic capacity to lead, and work for the benefit of ALL the American people. I freely admit, I believe progressives do a better job of this, so you may interpret that as a bit of bias.  The fact is that progressives believe that government works, and should be a tool in the arsenal of what makes this country great, in partnership with other institutions and individuals as well.  I believe if you actively hate government, it makes it kind of harder to manage.

That said, here is my list, from the least fit to the most fit -

21)  Donald Trump  - emotionally unsuited for the job, this man born on third and thinking he hit a triple; this man who has callously gone bankrupt four times and has survived because the bankers are afraid to let him fail; this man who wants to sue anyone that pisses him off; this man who is misogynist, sexist, xenophobic, bigoted and hateful; this man whose only articulated policy is to deport millions and answers someone who suggests we "get rid" of the Muslims in this country answers with "We'll look into it"; this man who is no longer funny, and should not just be dismissed as an entertainer.  He is vile and dangerous.  I'll be blunt.  Shame not just on him, but on you if you even for a second contemplated this man as your choice for President.  One of the least qualified candidates to ever run seriously for the Presidency of the United States.

20)  Ted Cruz -  Canadian/Cuban Senator from Texas.  He has shown a serious lack of ability to get along with anybody.  Ideologically dogmatic to the point of being willing to destroy this country rather than compromise, demonstrated by his advocacy of government shutdowns, regardless of the billions it costs us.  He'd rather destroy our health care system (most recently, his attacks on women's health and Planned Parenthood), and risk the destruction of the good faith and credit of the United States than even hint at a whiff of compromise or reasonableness.  The man has no business being anywhere near the Presidency of the United States.

19)  Ben Carson - great surgeon; not fit to be President.  Not enough space to list all his wrong headed and mis-informed opinions.  Evolution is a conspiracy brought about by "the adversary"?  Do I want to turn America into a theocracy?  Hard pass.

18) Mike Huckabee - this former Governor of Arkansas used to have some temperament and reason, but he has increasingly gone down the path of belligerence and intolerance lately.  Another hard pass on creating a theocratic state.  You have to lead us all, Mike, not just the Christian right.

17) Carly Fiorina - since when does bringing a major corporation like Hewlett-Packard to the brink of destruction qualify you to be President?  Since when is it okay to lie from beginning to end in a debate performance?  I don't rate her at the bottom because she has some marginal speaking skills, and it's not impossible for a business person to be a good President, but I do believe it's like a rich person going through the eye of the needle to get to heaven.  Rare, but not impossible - the skill sets just don't match up with what you need to be President.  Wait. Never mind.  She's not really a good business person anyways.  Never mind.

16) Rand Paul - Senator from Kentucky, he calls himself a libertarian.  Awesome.  So what does that mean?  Not much.  Get one hundred libertarians in a room and do you know what you've got?  One hundred different ideas of what libertarian even means.  His version is mixed and entertaining in parts, but he's going to have difficulty in building the bridges he'll need to accomplish anything.

15) Lincoln Chaffee - he's been a Senator and Governor, and a Republican, Independent and Democrat, but right now he's just running as an a-hole.  Not liking Hilary Clinton and her Iraq decision, and advocating the metric system, is not reason enough to run for President.

14) Rick Santorum - former Senator from Pennsylvania, and another hard right theocrat.  I rank him marginally higher than most of the other theocratic candidates because he has expressed some concern for the average working man

13) Lindsay Graham - senator from South Carolina who has some flashes of common sense insight, but a hard coated shell in favor of military action.  If you like endless wars, this is your man.

12) Chris Christie - you have to give a Republican some credit for running a blue state like New Jersey.  Of course he's mean spirited, revengeful, and runs things like a mafia don.  But hey, no plan is perfect.

11) Jim Gilmore - I think he was one time a Governor of Virginia or something.  No one's paying attention to him.  Sorry.  I guess I won't either.  He may or may not have leadership skills.  He certainly doesn't have any "attract the voter" skills.

10)  Bobby Jindall - Governor of Louisiana.  You have to give him this.  He has a lot of papers with clarified positions.  He hasn't been as bad of a Governor as Scott Walker, but he hasn't been the best either.  He has theocratic tendencies.

9)  Jim Webb - former Senator from Virginia and military man.  Interesting figure, but doesn't always play well with others.  And his conservative Democrat shtick is something that might have worked better in another era.  Really, defending the Confederate flag may not be the position to stake out from either party.

8)  George Pataki - former New York Governor.  Some competence there, but I think every one's kind of forgotten him.  And if the Tea Party caucus is not happy with John Boehner, imagine how they would feel about this relatively moderate former Governor.

7) Marco Rubio  - Florida Senator.  He would marginally help with the Latino vote (although after Trump's noisy pollution - it's hard to see the Republican Party recovering).  He has a tiny bit of charisma, and has shown at least a minuscule ability to compromise.

6)  Martin O' Malley - former Governor of Maryland.  He was an effective leader of his state, but has had little spark on the campaign trail.  His positions may be too close to Hilary's to distinguish himself.  I'll give him this, though - he's much younger than the rest of the Democratic field - practically a baby at 52.

5) Jeb Bush -  OMG, it just bores me and wears me out just to type out his name.  Low energy, thy name is Jeb.  Yes, he is too hard line conservative, and it would make me cringe for the four years he would be in office, but I suspect he would be more pragmatic than all but one of the other Republicans.  And that one more pragmatic than him would be.....

4)  John Kasich - this Governor of Ohio has shown the most pragmatism and leadership capacity of all the Republican candidates.  Again, he is still horribly conservative, but he has shown more compassion and understanding than any of their other candidates.  He is has the experience and credentials to handle the job. So, of course, the Republicans will never nominate him.

3)  Bernie Sanders  - Senator from Vermont.  Feel the Bern!  Yes, his election would energize and revolutionize a nation.  But given this, he has shown the ability to work and compromise with the opposition. He can get things done.  The only reason I don't rank him number one is because he would have to fight the corporate and wealthy forces that have oligarchically  controlled this country, and that might not be a very pretty fight.  Necessary, but not pretty.

2)  Hilary Clinton  - chill out, my conservative friends.  Like it or not, she does have the experience and pragmatism to run this country.  Republicans hate her and vilify her, but hell, they'll do that to any one who gets the Democratic nomination.  Not my first choice because she is a corporatist and a bit of a war hawk, I still have no doubt about her ability to competently lead this country, in the best interest of all Americans.

1)  Joe Biden - I know.  A bit of a cheat here, as he is not an announced candidate.  But I have no doubt that he is the best, most qualified person to lead this country.  Can he win?  Probably not.  But if he does, I'll know the country will be in the best hands possible.  Many of the best decisions made by this White House has been with the influence and steerage of Joe Biden.  Even his unpolitical bluntness is refreshing, as it shows he has concern and connection to the average person.  I'm not expecting a Biden Presidency, but I more than welcome it if it occurs.


Ugh!  All this thinking and analysis for something that's probably just going to be yet another Bush/Clinton race.  Zzzzzzzz.

If that happens, just wake me up when it's over.