Looking for the Right Stuff

Yesterday I read a blog by John Hawkins called “Seven Responsibilities You Have as an American.” He says these are the flipside to rights. Worth reading in total. I’ll just list the seven headings.

1. It’s your responsibility to pay your own way.
2. It’s your responsibility to take care of your children.
3. It’s your responsibility to look out for future generations of Americans.
4. You have a responsibility to be an informed voter.
5. You have a responsibility to support and defend the Constitution.
6. You have a responsibility to put America first.
7. You have a responsibility to be a good person.

If I were organized, I could take a post for each of these. But I expect I’ll probably continue to randomly comment on what strikes me as important to say each day. But my guess is that this list pretty well coincides with what I write about anyway, relating to freedom, free enterprise, and civilization.

My plan for today is to worka bit on #4 on the list. I’ve been thinking about what would make a good presidential candidate. It’s early in that race, and I’m not committing anywhere—except that I cannot and will not vote for Obama under any circumstance that I can imagine. But if I were able to invent an ideal presidential candidate, it would include (but not necessarily be limited to) these requirements. [I will use he, because it’s simpler than saying he or she all the time, not because I would rule out voting for a woman.]

• He must understand and appreciate the Constitution, and be able to articulate the founder’s beliefs and intentions when they wrote it—in short, he must be committed to adhering to the Constitution.
• Where we are currently distant from the Constitution, he must be able to articulate a plan to get us back to adherence.
• He must be of good character—living a good, civilized life—being both sincerely religious and a committed spouse and parent to his personal family.
• He must have success outside of government, preferably with some sort of specialty in which he has made a living and significant contributions to society.
• He should fully understand private sector economics, and articulate how getting rid of government interference will improve economic situations or eliminate economic problems.
• He must be honest in his dealings with others—and have enough known character witnesses to attest to his honesty—both of his political persuasion and against.
• He must be a good communicator—despite efforts by much of the media to distort everything he says and does.
• He must grasp foreign policy, which includes seeing America as an example for prosperity and freedom, and commit to avoid offering bribery in the form of foreign aid. While there can be policies related to helping other nations work to establish their own freedom, there should not be unnecessary entanglements. However, there must also be a commitment to keeping our word as a nation and not abandoning people we have already made promises to.
• He must understand the proper role of government, which includes limitations in the Constitution as well as understanding that the appropriate level is always at the lowest level possible. The centralized federal government is a solution for very little and an interference to much.
• He must be committed to lower fair taxes, and keep the budget to a much lower percentage of GDP (under 20% as a start).
• He must be committed to protecting the family, which includes commitment to the sacred institution of marriage, commitment to parental responsibility for children.
• He must be committed to protecting life of the innocent, particularly the unborn and aging.
• He must repeal Obamacare and replace it with market-driven forces.
• He must already have the kinds of companions and associates that show us the caliber of advisors he will have.
• In the judiciary, he must insist on originalists—who will keep their oath to uphold the Constitution as it was written and intended.
• He must be not only trustworthy; he must be strong, decisive, and persuasive, so that the people will trust him.

I don’t know yet who this person will be—or if such a person exists. But maybe if we’re all on the same search for such a person, we’ll get someone much better than if we just wait and see or if we try to guess who is most popular or electable.

If I do think I've found such a person, or close enough, I will let you know (as you should let me know if you find such a person). Otherwise we'll just keep sticking to ideas and principles.