that other guy’s thoughts

I was having difficultly writing something coherent, so I borrowed a bit of inspiration from my favorite writer, Aaron Sorkin. In the end, it wasn’t so hard. 1000 words later, here’s what came out:

The Unknown Happens.

“If our job teaches us anything, it’s that we don’t know what the next President’s gonna face.”

Presidencies are never about what we think they’re going to be about. The issues that face us today weren’t even on the radar 8 years ago. Even today, the biggest threat to our country isn’t a “credit crunch”, or the war in Iraq, or climate change. The biggest threat is probably some unknown or obscure foreign event or domestic policy change that will have massive and unintended consequences for years to come. Think ‘modifying Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s lending criteria’ meets ‘OMG Global Economic Hurricane!!1!!1!’ It’s an unknown-unknown, and that’s what makes it so dangerous.

To head these problems at the pass, we need a president with a full view of the playing field. We need a President with intellectual curiosity and self-examination. Barack Obama has both in abundance. John McCain understands self-examination, but doesn’t have the forethought to see past next Tuesday, let alone decades from now. Joe Biden has plenty of curiosity but has yet to solve his personal case of foot-in-mouth-itis. Sarah Palin has neither, insults anybody who does, and revels in her own ignorance.

Process Matters

“We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious men to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, friend, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: Making you afraid of it and telling you who’s to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and personal character. Then you have an old photo of the President’s girlfriend. You scream about patriotism and you tell them she’s to blame for their lot in life, you go on television and you call her a whore.”

A McCain victory changes national politics for at least a decade. It validates the Karl Rove model of electoral campaigns. It’s a giant bat-signal to politicians saying that truth doesn’t matter, facts don’t matter, smears don’t matter, the press doesn’t matter, competence doesn’t matter, governance doesn’t matter, temperament doesn’t matter. It means that the American people will elect anyone as long as you can cobble together a string of divisive single-issue voters and paint your opponent as someone to be afraid of. You can abuse power and revel in ignorance. You can refuse to answer questions, never give a press conference, and still have your hate-filled stump speeches broadcast live everyday on CNN. A McCain victory means the last vestiges of small honor in campaign politics is dead.

I don’t know what happened to John McCain, but I do know that if he governs anything like he campaigns, we’re all screwed.

Hope Matters. Always.

“I am here to tell you that hope is real. In a life of trails, in a world of challenges, hope is real. In a country where families go without health care, where some go without food, some don’t even have a home to speak of, hope is real. In a time of global chaos and instability where our faiths collide as often as our weapons, hope is real. Hope is what gives us the courage to face our greatest challenges, to move forward together. We live in cynical times, but hope is not up for debate. There is such a thing as false science, there is such a thing as false promises, but there is no such thing as false hope. There is only hope.”

Our world is crushing down on us right now. For the first time in our history we face the prospect of an entire generation of Americas having a less free, safe, and prosperous life than their parents. Right now, we’re stuck in a deep hole and we’re still digging. We’ve spent ourselves to near exhaustion, economically, culturally, emotionally, and philosophically.

If we ever want to turn it around, and have better days, we simply cannot lose hope. Because hope is the foundation of everything. It’s at the root of each of our families, it’s the promise of religion and faith, and it’s the foundation of our country. Something better is possible. Something better is ALWAYS possible.

Barack Obama understood this, and he made hope the very first, and most central theme of his political career. Before “change”, before “yes, we can”, before everything, there was Hope.

Competence Matters Most.

“There is is. That’s the ten-word answer my staff’s been looking for for two weeks. There it is. Ten-word answers can kill you in political campaigns. They’re the tip of the sword. Here’s my question: What are the next ten words of your answer? Your taxes are too high? So are mine. Give me the next ten words. How are we going to do it? Give me ten after that, I’ll drop out of the race right now. Every once in a while… every once in a while, there’s a day with an absolute right and an absolute wrong, but those days almost always include body counts. Other than that, there aren’t very many unnuanced moments in leading a country that’s way too big for ten words. I’m the President of the United States, not the President of the people who agree with me.”

This is the lesson that should be first and foremost burned into the minds of our citizenry. Before considering the issues, before party, before ideology, before philosophy, before belief, we absolutely MUST require our leaders to be competent. This is especially true of Presidents. The job entails executing the day-to-day operation of the biggest, most-byzantine, most influential, most dangerous organization in the world. I think before we worry about who’s taxes will go up or down 3% we should figure out if our candidates have intellects and dispositions capable of running such a complex office. Our current president obviously fails this test.

It’s taken me long enough to get here, but I know this: Picking Presidents purely based on their stance on the “issues” is dumb. Almost as dumb and picking them based on hair color. Presidents have to be more than a sum of their positions, otherwise we’re just electing and empty shirt.

This isn’t to say that issues don’t matter. No mistake should be made. Barack Obama is a modern liberal. This is at least cause for pause when considering that he wishes to govern a moderate to mildly conservative population. But one of his most appealing traits to me is his near total adherence to evidence-based policy. Everything he purposes is backed up by scores of studies and surveys and a gaggle of expects to vouch for it’s authenticity. Try as his detractors might, there is nothing radical about him. His proposals for healthcare, foreign policy, fiscal policy, education, and the environment are prudent, well thought-out, and backed up by reams of data.

I may disagree with many of his view and goals, but I’m firmly confident that an Obama administration won’t venture far from what works. It may seem like a misnomer in today’s climate, but this is a traditionally conservative governing process.

I picture an Obama administration, and I see the capacity for the best of all worlds: A call to inspire each of us to find our best selves, and when the boots hit the ground, do what works.