We need a president who …

Matt Pearl

I was told several years ago that the personal conduct of a political leader was essentially immaterial in a discussion of his or her ability to govern.

I didn’t believe that such was the case then, nor do I believe it to be so now.

The justification for the argument then was that the man who demonstrated blatant disrespect for his political office by committing questionable moral acts in his physical office had governed during a time of general peace and prosperity, thus vindicating him of his bad personal choices.

Political power has historically brought with it the ability (and temptation) for leaders to succumb to questionable moral conduct, folks told me.

What they were really saying, and what I was hearing, was this:

The economy is strong, so it shouldn’t matter to you and me that our leader is using his office in an executive mansion (that belongs to the American people) as a site to commit acts of questionable moral conduct.

Fast forward over a decade and a half, when we are faced with choosing a new chief executive, and consider our current search in the context of the moral spectrum.

It’s enough to make us wonder about several others vying for the role of president.

We have a head-hunting capitalist who has used every loophole to benefit himself.

We have a former cabinet member who seems to have (to one degree or another) obstructed America’s ability to discern the full details of a U.S. Embassy attack.

We have a former Florida governor who seems to have benefitted from his brother, then President of the United States, directing the vote recount that elected him.

We have the woman who took Hewlett-Packard into the tank.

We have the democratic-socialist senator who doesn’t differentiate in his rhetoric between the average home mortgage and student loan debt.

We have the brain surgeon who can never seem to say what he really means — or else he really means what he says and can’t justify some of it.

We have the guys with Latino names and conservative backing, but would either do enough to change the status quo?

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a real leader here. Not a speaker. Not a promis-er. Not a philosopher on the placement of wealth. Not the champion of any specific interest group.

I want an American. I want somebody who understands the Founding Fathers — but who also understands the Industrial Revolution and the wicked side of capitalism in the hands of the immoral.

I want the leader who has the guts to pull the trigger, but who is mindful of his or her responsibility not to put Americans needlessly in harm’s way.

We need a person who is not afraid to be wrong, and is fearless when it is time to do what is right.

We need boldness without the arrogance, confidence without the self-righteousness.

Essentially, we need someone very special, but unfortunately for us, it appears we need someone who isn’t running.