We, as a country, the electorate, have come to expect too much from our elected officials. We expect them to be perfect. We expect our candidates to have lived a life without fault but, of course, with many obstacles so they can relate to the everyday person.
This is not reasonable. Why would it be such a bad thing to have a real person in the White House? Why would it be a bad thing to have someone who had to overcome some adversity in their life living in the White House? I fail to see how it would be.
We expect the candidates to have never done anything wrong. I’ll tell you what would worry me more than someone who has done wrong in their life, someone who has never done wrong in their life! That either means the person has been way too careful and not ever really lived life or that person has gone to great lengths to prevent others from learning of the wrongs they’ve committed during their life. Either way, that’s not a person I see as having the attributes to be a good leader.
I want someone who has experienced life, the ups and downs. Someone who has screwed up but then learned from their mistake and become a better person for it is much more virtuous and much better equipped to handle the adversity of public office.
We need to stop expecting perfection from our candidates. We need to start embracing the imperfections that make the candidates human. It is these imperfections that allow them to not only experience their own life but also provide the perspective that allows them to better relate to the electorate. Once we stop expecting perfection from our candidates, we’ll feel better about the candidates we have to choose from.
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