Tag Archives: gender

Forget Obama, Romney and other candidates.  Forget conservative and liberal.  Forget Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party, Independent, etc.

Here are the questions:  Does a person’s cultural and financial history matter to you for President?  If so, what is the perfect mix?

1)  Does it make you more inclined to vote for someone if they are the same race, the same gender, from the same state or city?  Why?  I have voted for a whole spectrum, none of that entered my mind, but I have heard others say it matters.  I voted for Alan Keyes, a black Republican for President eight years before Obama ran.  I am glad we overcame the hurdle of electing a black man to office less than 50 years after people died in the Civil Rights movement for their equality.  But should I care he is black and be happy?  Shouldn’t we be color blind and not remark on his race?

I grew up dirt poor, white trash.  We grew our own food, sewed our own clothing, even gathered wood and nails from old collapsed barns to make our own lean to house to live in.  My father was permanently disabled when I was around three, so we got free USDA crap cheese and milk, social security checks and lived like crap.  My father and mother abused me and my brother and sisters terribly.  My brother abused me as well.  I went to school with bloody pants from being whipped.  My father died when I was 15, my mother took off to another state shortly after that.  I raised myself through high school.  I went on to the US Air Force, then achieved degrees in electronic engineering, computer science and economics and finance.  I worked like a banshee and made six figures.  Now I have “retired” to be a novelist.

Am I better as a leader because I was poor and abused?  Am I worse as a leader because I was a CFO and CEO and a 1%er?  Does it matter I served in the military?  Does it matter I served in public and private sectors, that I made payroll and developed jobs?

What if I was born with a silver spoon?  From birth I hobnobbed with power, like the Kennedy clan, or the Rockefellers.  Does that make me out of touch?  Or would that make me a better leader because I know how to use power, who has it, how to play the game to achieve goals.  I would be comfortable in the halls of power and be experienced at the landmines?

If I was poor and struggled and achieved…  Does that mean I am better?  What if I get to Washington and have no idea what to do?  I only know my small group from my home town to call upon.  I don’t understand how to get things done in the big time and get frustrated?

These issues are shown to us in beautiful films at conventions, images on our screen, pundits and propagandists, charts, jokes, pretty much everywhere.  But do they really mean something?

2)  Having read the above…  Who is your perfect candidate?  No names.  Describe their life.  I would appreciate if you feel comfortable answering here, but even if you just think about it yourself, hopefully this has been thought provoking.