Building a Better Candidate

Abe Lincoln was a farmer-turned-country-lawyer. Harry Truman was a midwestern haberdasher. Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer. These men – and so many others – came from humble beginnings, but with grit, education, and a dedication to public service, they rose to the presidency.

And then, behind the Resolute Desk, sat a reality TV host with a long history of sketchy practices, both business and personal. The Age of Trump unleashed a war on the norms and practices of governing that we’d taken for granted and has tested the strength of our democracy.

While politics has always attracted the odd duck, Trump has given the green light to a raft of election deniers, conspiracy theorists, and followers of QAnon, the cult that claims liberals are baby-eating Satan worshipers. Ignorance – willful or otherwise – is a feature, not a bug of current Congressional representatives like Lauren Boebert (CO), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), Paul Gosar (AZ) and Louie Gohmert (TX).

During this 2022 midterm cycle, the GOP has been quietly wringing their hands over the “quality” of their candidates, such as senate candidates Herschel Walker and Dr. Oz. Mark Finchem, running for AZ Secretary of State, is a massive election denier who – should he win – would have a say in election results in his state. Doug Mastriano, another extreme election denier running for governor in PA. gloats over his opportunity to change the election results “with the stroke of a pen.”

While the magic of America has been that “anyone can grow up to become President,” unfortunately, some of those “anyones” have – or hope to. So how do we go about giving citizens a chance to participate in public life, but keep all that weirdo, democracy-hating poison out of the bloodstream? The GOP faced this before in the 50s and 60s with the racist John Birch Society and the unhinged red-scare rantings of Joe McCarthy. They ultimately called both out and tamped it down.

Without demanding any “purity tests” on policy, this writer proposes a few actions to improve the basic quality of candidates – on both sides of the aisle. There are too many grandstanders who do little but tweet and fundraise; we need serious people interested in the greater good of the country. So here goes:

1. Pass a citizenship test. Immigrants to this country need to take it; the least we can do is require candidates seeking office at the state level, in Congress or the White House to do the same.
2. Basic civics. It’s obvious that many politicians are only familiar with one amendment -- the Second. And they don’t appreciate ideas like separation of church and state, or the different branches of our government. If you’re serious about public service, you should be able to answer some basic questions about how our government works. Here’s where “Schoolhouse Rock” would come in handy.
3. Background checks. It’s stunning, but as POTUS, Donald Trump didn’t need a background check to get his top security clearance. Think of it: he triggered every “red flag” (financial problems, susceptible to blackmail or influence, etc.) – and yet, he was given access to our most sensitive information. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was passed over for similar reasons, but Trump forced a high-level clearance through.
4. Even the most mundane mid-level job requires a background check; serving in government should at least require the same.

Disqualifiers. If a candidate has been proven to indulge in anti-democratic activities like participating in an insurrection, attempting to interfere in elections, or promoting conspiracies that result in criminal activity (like someone showing up at a DC pizza parlor with a gun), that should be a non-starter. At this stage, we should be able to discern free speech from a candidate actively promoting things harmful to the citizenry. They can be offered a chance to publicly defend themselves, but it should be under oath so they can’t deflect, grandstand, or equivocate.

We are living through an unprecedented time, and it’s clear that we need serious people for a serious job. Putting up some simple requirements for the job would go a long way towards weeding out the howler monkeys who prefer creating chaos for their own aggrandizement over actually serving the public.

Do you think we need a better vetting process for candidates? Are you dissatisfied with or concerned about candidates in your area?? What would you propose as a way to ensure that candidates (local, state, or federal) be as transparent and knowledgeable as possible? Sound off!

Cindy Grogan is a writer, lover of history and "Star Trek" (TOS), and hardcore politics junkie. There was that one time she campaigned for Gerald Ford (yikes), but ever since, she's been devoted to Democratic and progressive policies.