I have been reading several articles online and blogposts about the electability of a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to become President of the United States. There are some good discussions out there. I think it’s great what Mitch Davis and Randy Davis are doing at runmittrun.org
In the recent Los Angeles Times poll which found that 37% of the U.S. would not vote for a Mormon to be President, the poll also questioned respondents if they would vote for a Muslim for President. That got me to thinking. Whom would I be willing to vote for? To me, the things I would look for in a president would go more or less in this order:
1. Are they honest? (This may sound strange, but if the person believes in God, I feel being honest would include the idea of the candidate having a clear conscience before God.)
2. Are they a selfless leader?
3. Do they have proven experience?
4. Are they mentally, psychologically, and physically fit to do the job well?
5. Are they able to work well with others by building consensus and by compromising when needed?
Given a choice of candidates, I would try and vote for the one who possesses these characteristics in the most abundance. To me, it wouldn’t matter if that person were male or female; black, white, or any other race; heterosexual or someone who experiences same-sex attraction; or if they were Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Muslim, atheist, or agnostic.
The prospect whom I feel has the best qualifications for President of the United States for 2008 happens to be a Mormon.