Reasonable, informed, intelligent people with various perspectives can have honest differences about policy. Goals. Strategies. I respect that, and the discourse, the country are better for that dynamic. The GOP is wrong about much, and the economic statistics, history, and much evidence supports the principles many here hold: opportunity and respect for all, the efficacy of public education, public works, environmental protection, taxation to fund collective efforts to attain goals impossible any other way, conducting foreign affairs with an eye towards increased human rights, freedom, democracy, and economic progress for populations around the globe, as free democratic societies tend not to blow each other up.
But never mind all of those important issues. What is the minimum we should expect of a US President? I would suggest a few items.
- We need to know the president is working for us. That means divestment from holdings, or at a bare minimum open books to reveal where their financial interests lie.
- The President should demonstrate an understanding of the constitution, and the checks and balances on executive power, and respect those constraints.
- Our leader should have the intellectual capacity to understand complex problems. There is no easy solution to , say, ISIS, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan... Or to health care, budget deficits, climate change, and so on. But we should be able to expect that the "decider" at least understands the problems before deciding. And gets and takes advice from experts, with various viewpoints, in difficult situations.
- The president should have the character to make these decisions based on evidence and logic, with a long-term perspective.
- I prefer a President who can speak in complete sentences and communicate at a 10th grade level or better. Maybe that's just me.
- All presidents say misleading things sometimes; it's part of the job. It is preferable if lying is not their defining characteristic in all communications. Seems counterproductive.
- Seems like humility, curiosity, patience, and an even temperament are preferable to their opposites.
Maybe you all have some more ideas.