[phaster]

No one political candidate is going to be perfect, so thought I'd ask what qualities do you think would make for an ideal "designer" president....

for example even though I think president bush is a moron, the thing I admire about him is that he is willing to stay the course. in other words I admire president bush because he decided upon going to war in Iraq and public opinion polls do not seem to phase him one bit.

in obama, I see an individual who is well spoken and seems to inspire people, in a similar vain I admire president clinton, president reagan and JFK because these individuals had the gift of gab.

Ron paul I admire because he seems to have a basic understanding of economics, which is lacking from McCain (he said as much).

As far as McCain, I admire the fact that in his younger days he had a sense of self sacrifice (in viet nam, it was said he did not take the easy way out and refused an out by viet cong when they knew he was the son of a navy admiral).

As far as hillary, personally she makes my skin crawl, BUT I admire the fact that she took a stab at trying to reform the medical system and I look at medical care for americans as a need like basic infrastructure on which a strong economy can be based, much like roads and the national grid pay far more back to the national economy than what their costs were to put in place.

This might show my fringe political side, but I think no US politician has really considered how important the environment really is and has been an advociate for the environment, but I have to admire arnold schwarzenegger for paying lip service trying to jump start green tech here in california, and I think nixon was on the right track when he set up a Cabinet-level Environmental Quality Council as well as a Citizens' Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality.

http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/epa/15c.htm

Conservative talk show hosts like rush limbach, and news info-tainment outlets like FOX news decry the democratics, but IMHO FDR was a great american president who did a good job dealing with the depression by starting the WPA (which provided jobs and built basic infrastructure), and had a good understand of human nature when he said in a fire side chat "there is nothing to fear itself" also he over saw or did a pretty good job or delegating responsibility during WW II.

IKE although not as much of a personality as president reagan or bill clinton, I think had a great understand of the importants of basic public infrastructure, due to the fact that he was a general during WW II and knew an army was only as good as its supply lines, and if it wasn't for IKE then the public highway interstate system might not have been built. Also because IKE was a military man, I give him credit for his last speech made in office that warned of the military industrial complex (a lesson that IMHO was not learned by president reagan and the current president bush, lots of good money was spent on "star wars" defense systems that have lots of technical "physics" problems, that would be very difficult to over come, but these two president not noted for their scientific back grounds seem to be mesmerized by things with lots of blinky lights...

althought it won't happen in my life time, I want to have a president that really understand the basic physics of the environment, has an understand of sustainable economics, understand that although public infrastructure isn't sexy it is what built this nation into a superpower, is an eloquent speaker that inspires and is willing to stick to an unpopular program than might seem painful in the short run but is benefical to the american public and humanity as a whole in the long run....

[Kaj]

'Not perfect' is an understatement, I'm afraid. All the presidents to date since WWII are war criminals under the articles of the Geneva convention.
Fact.
Actually, thats just portion of it.
If any of the current presidential candidates continue present policy in Israel and Columbia, they will be international criminals too. This is a matter of law, not just me espousing my view.
When US administration officials have to visit France, they actually spend as little time as possible there because they are genuinely worried about being arrested.
So, so much for any of those crooks.

The qualities I would admire in a president would be humility, integrity and intelligence.

[Fishman]

Well, with Kaj having spoken, I look for a president that meets his criteria as a war criminal. Our best ones had the highest number of violations, Reagan and Clinton (who I don't like poltically but was a good politician.)

[Ivan_M]

for a start, my ideal president wouldn't be the sort of person who would run for president.

[midnight-gamer]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')arcus Aurelius: Won't you accept this great honor that I have offered you?
Maximus: With all my heart, no.
Marcus Aurelius: Maximus, that is why it must be you.

[Daniel_Plainview]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('phaster', 'W')hat qualities do you think would make for an ideal "designer" president....

....

[Cid_Yama]

I want Jimmy Carter back.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DoomWarrior', '
')Easy: Identify all of G.W. Bush's qualities, and take the polar opposite of those qualities.

[joeltrout]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DoomWarrior', '
')Easy: Identify all of G.W. Bush's qualities, and take the polar opposite of those qualities.

[Denny]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joeltrout', '
')Here are just a few things I look for in a president:

Somebody not afraid to back down when punched in the face
When they say they will do something they do it
Looks to a higher authority
Someone who values family over all else
Willing to admit when they are wrong
Open to opinions from everyone and will work with both parties

joeltrout

[BigTex]

Ruthless and laser focus on reducing the size of government at every level.

Utterly belligerent toward Congress; willing to veto anything that appears wasteful, pointless or unconstitutional.

Appalled at the size and scope of the current federal/state/county/local/special authority governmental entity colossus.

Committed to paying off national debt and eliminating budget deficit.

Committed to idea that no government program of any kind can ever be implemented unless it is fully funded on a pay as you go basis. No fiscal child abuse.

Completely hostile to executive branch bureaucracy and repeatedly requests cuts in their operating budgets.

Asks the following question about any government action: "Would I be comfortable having my money stolen from me to fund this activity?" If the answer is no, then he will fight against having the government undertake the activity.

Takes every opportunity to talk trash wrestling-style about the Federal Reserve and its chairman (unless it is his own nominee).

Such a person might remind people of Andrew Jackson.

The progress he made in reducing the size and power of the government would be temporary, but it would be helpful.

[Plantagenet]

A young, energetic, articulate man or woman who can inspire the youth of this country and change the direction of our foreign policy.

[basil_hayden]

An old cooter, so we don't have to pay for Secret Service for decades.

[TreeFarmer]

BigTex that is a good start.

I would add that I want someone who will constantly explain to the people and congress that you can't get something for nothing. That is the over riding weakness of liberalism, the belief that you can get something for nothing.

The second weakness of liberalism if that it is ok to vote to tax someone else so that the government can provide a service to you. That is known as stealing where I come from. Yes, its done thru the government so it has the appearance of legitimacy but it is just stealing by proxy.

TF