Dartblog

A new set of polls came out last week about the certain percentages of Americans “ready” for a black president or a woman president. I submit that the whole exercise of polling on this subject is silly.

The primary reason is that these numbers are highly misleading because the object of the polls is pretty clear: Obama and Hillary. I would doubt that any significant number of Americans would reject a candidate simply because of their race or gender (or for that matter any other factor outside a candidates control).

I am not ‘ready’ for an Obama presidency. I doubt whether this country could survive an administration so far to the left of the vast majority of Americans. The same sentiments apply to my ‘readiness’ for a Hillary presidency. I am not ‘ready’ for these candidates because I think that their policies would not be best for America, and some of them perhaps highly destructive. I am not ready, in short, for a bad president. I doubt I ever will be.

Candidates who come easily to my mind as suited for the presidency (other than John McCain) include Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, Ron Paul, Sandra Day O’Conner, Joe Lieberman, and Mitt Romney. Some Vice Presidential names that come to mind are Mel Martinez, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Chris Shays, and Chuck Hagel.

We can all total up the largely meaningless racial and gender stats for any candidate or set of candidates but again, candidates are not good and bad for reasons of uncontrollable demographics. They are good or bad for their policies and their leadership. What America needs (at least in my opinion) is a good president, and I think we are all ready for that.