Presidential Candidates - Testing Their Skills for the 45th Presidential Race
Posted: Saturday, July 17, 2010
by Highway 101
Presidents of the United States are elected by popular vote but does that qualify them to hold such an important office? If you examine the track record of the past 44 presidents their skill levels have varied so greatly that it begs the question should presidential candidates be given a test before they are nominated as their party's candidate for the job? Comparing the performance of say Regan versus Nixon or Clinton versus Carter for example one would wonder if indeed they had all passed the same test to hold the highest office in the land.
Those military aptitude tests include verbal reasoning , numeracy and abstract reasoning . The results of these tests form an overall Officer Intelligence Rating. Verbal reasoning tests of intelligence provide an assessment of an individual's ability to think, reason and solve problems in different ways. Numeracy tests are obvious. Abstract reasoning tests are those where the subject is asked to identify the missing item that completes a pattern. In addition to these aptitude tests for a presidential candidate it would make sense to add a general knowledge test which would include questions on politics, history, science and most importantly geography a subject which does not appear to be well taught in the US education system,
The following sample of quotes from candidates for the 44 th president of the United States makes one wonder how these candidates were prequalified to compete for the top job.
"I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." John McCain.
"I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go." Barack Obama at a campaign event in Beaverton, Oregon"
"They're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom." --Sarah Palin, getting the vice president's constitutional role wrong after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does.
"Look, John's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs." Joe Biden.
"We are going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Hillary Clinton.
"I'm pretty sure there will be duck-hunting in heaven and I can't wait!" Mike Huckabee.
"PETA is not happy that my dog likes fresh air." --on strapping his dog to the top of the car. Mitt Romney
"We don't all agree on everything. I don't agree with myself on everything." Rudy Giuliani.
"Gosh, no one has told me that there's any major reserves in the Everglades, but maybe that's one of the things I need to learn while I'm down here" --after being asked his position on oil drilling in the Florida Everglades. Fred Thompson.
The qualification for any politician to become the leader of a democratic nation these days appears to be based on their oratory skills and how well they perform on television. A few, such as George Brown the British Prime Minister, who lacked even those skills got the job by default. In the main its politicians who are good orators who get the top job. Obama, Clinton, Reagan, Chaves are just a few of the world leaders who got the top job by being a great speaker, a skill which enabled them to persuade the populace to vote them into power.
Being a good orator is surely a skill which any leader requires to be able to communicate with the masses however in today's complex society the president of the United States needs many other skills to be able to manage the country. So wouldn't make sense that political candidates competing for the job of 45 th US president go through televised competitions which test their IQ, General Knowledge and their aptitude for the job. These Presidential Candidate Entry Exams would make for good television for it would be based on questions that many American viewers might be able to answer and provide a better yardstick than political questions by which to screen out unsuitable candidates. As the president is also Commander in Chief it would be logical for a second round of competitions between the candidates to include war games, after all if you are going to command the world's greatest army then you should have some skills in military strategy. More good television!
Next, those candidates who had passed the earlier tests would then compete in a contest using set piece political situation contests where their answers could be analyzed by software designed to predict the consequences of their proposed actions.
Candidates who made it through the three sets of earlier tests would then engage in the television debates with other contenders we are now familiar with.
This layered screening of candidates would allow for a much larger field of candidates than we see at present to enter the earlier rounds as qualifying would be based on skill and not on the size of contributions they had been able to garner for TV advertising. Only when they reached the debating round would their ability to be able to canvas support for their candidacy and fund raising really count. Such a novel method of selecting presidential candidates would open the field to more skilled contenders who under the current process would not see the light of day because they do not have the right political connections.
Vince Waterson is on the management team of a telecommunications company in California. He can be contacted at vwaterson@aol.com
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