What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

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What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

In a similiar vein to Gandalf's "What are the core values of the Democratic Party" thread, and in light of how far Trump has lowered the bar for being considered Presidential material, though I dare say their's going to be a lot of "buyer's remorse"...

The question I put to you all is: what are the most important qualities one looks for in a candidate? I'm not talking about every single specific policy or a check list of previous offices held necessarily, but core qualities you look for in ones' experience/character.

For me, the short list would include:

-Respect for the basic rules of a society based on democracy and the rule of law, particularly freedom of belief/conscience/expression, legal equality, due process/rule of law, and a reasonably fair vote. You can work with someone you disagree with, to a point, if they're prepared to play by the same basic rules. If they try to cheat, however, then you have a real problem.

-Personal courage. Politics can be dangerous, and you will have to make choices that will hurt and anger a lot of people. It is no profession for cowards.

-Willingness to listen to others, accept criticism, and weigh different points of view before making up their own mind. No President or Congressmember or Governor will be an expert on every issue they face (though lack of experience on the Donald's level is thankfully rare), so this will always be important.

-Also, willingness to change their position to reflect changing circumstances or new evidence. Of course consistency of principle is important as well, but I find that too often, ability to adapt is equated with "flip-flopping", and "stay the course" is seen as one of the highest virtues in a politician, to the detriment of the country.

-For those aspiring to the office of the Presidency, they should have held prior political office at the level of Governorship, Congress, or Cabinet, so they're not coming in completely lacking in experience of that world.

-Lastly, though not as important for those in office, those aspiring to be elected should have a personal charisma, an ability to connect emotionally with and excite voters.

Edit: And yeah, this is partly me coming up with my criteria for evaluating 2020 primary candidates- a very pressing question for the Democrats right now.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Crazedwraith »

As Trump proves. These are not 'essential' qualities of political candidates.

There is only one essential quality: Popularity with the masses.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

I covered that one with my last point. Sort of. Trump's "popularity with the masses" is actually limited- he won by Electoral College, not popular vote.

The other points are meant to answer "what are the essential qualities to be fit to hold office"? Something that I think most of us will agree that Trump manifestly is not.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Alkaloid »

-Lastly, though not as important for those in office, those aspiring to be elected should have a personal charisma, an ability to connect emotionally with and excite voters.
I strongly disagree here. Any sort of leader needs to be charismatic enough to convince people to take actions that may not be ideal for them as individuals but good for the group as a whole. Otherwise you end up with the sort of populism that comes from identifying what's good form most people in the group and doing that, fuck everyone who isn't most people.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

I didn't say it was unimportant to have charisma once in office, to be fair. Just that its more crucial for getting their in the first place.

Of course, the wrong kind of charisma (or charisma without principle) can lead to a populist demagogue, yes.

Edit: Which is where the other qualities I discussed come in.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Tribble »

Yay, another "Why Trump Shouldn't be President so let's evaluate potential 2020 Democrats" thread.

I agree with Crazedwraith here. The one and only essential quality of a political candidate is the ability to get elected, via whatever means they have at their disposal. Pretty much everything else is secondary to that. If they can't get into office they can't do anything.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Tribble wrote:Yay, another "Why Trump Shouldn't be President" thread.
It was intended to be significantly broader than that. The Orange Rapist merely provided part of the impetus for having this discussion.
I agree with Crazedwraith here. The one and only essential quality of a political candidate is the ability to get elected, via whatever means they have at their disposal. Pretty much everything else is secondary to that. If they can't get into office they can't do anything, it's that simple.
That is a remarkably cynical philosophy, and it somewhat misses the point of this thread, which is not merely "What is needed to win an election?", but "What is needed to win to actually do the fucking job?". Getting your man elected does no one any good if that man is Hitler. Or if that man is just a blithering incompetent.

Yes, you have to win to do anything, but you also have to be able to actually accomplish something worthwhile, unless you are content to simply accept politics as nothing more than an exercise in unfettered personal ambition and self-gratification.

Edit: And if you do accept that, to be frank, then surely it doesn't matter who wins unless you are the candidate or part of their inner circle, so why do you even care?
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Tribble »

That is a remarkably cynical philosophy, and it somewhat misses the point of this thread, which is not merely "What is needed to win an election?", but "What is needed to win to actually do the fucking job?". Getting your man elected does no one any good if that man is Hitler. Or if that man is just a blithering incompetent.

Yes, you have to win to do anything, but you also have to be able to actually accomplish something worthwhile, unless you are content to simply accept politics as nothing more than an exercise in unfettered personal ambition and self-gratification.

Edit: And if you do accept that, to be frank, then surely it doesn't matter who wins unless you are the candidate or part of their inner circle, so why do you even care?
Have you ever actually met a politician? That's exactly what politics is, the only difference is the degree of screwing the average person gets in the process. Politicians have their unfettered personal ambition and self-gratification satisfied sometimes via throwing the masses a bone once in a while, but it's still about their ego in the end. Even Republicans occasionally like to think to themselves that they are doing everyone a favour.

Since Democrats are more prone to throwing a few more bones to the masses than the "screw 'em all!" Republicans, it's obvious who I would vote for were I American. The real goal of a voter is to try and determine as much as possible which politicians get off on "helping people" the most rather than just on the money and prestige alone. Politicians are fully aware of this though, which is why they spend so much time mastering the art of deception and false promises.
Last edited by Tribble on 2017-03-09 09:38am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

That is part of what politics is about, but it is not the whole of it.

What is accomplished by this smug, simplistic cynicism masquerading as wisdom? Of insisting as a matter of absolute truth that all politics is the same, that politics is only, and can ever only, be about screwing people over? Because as far as I can see, the only purpose it serves is to normalize political corruption, to tell people "This is the only way it can ever be, so their is no point demanding anything better and you're just a fool if you care or try". Which in turn encourages both lower turnout and radical ideologues, and by treating this as the sole motivation of all politicians, makes someone like Trump seem acceptable, normal.

In fact, given the obvious implications of such a philosophy, I would consider it an overtly undemocratic argument.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

I will add that most human actions have multiple motivations. Yes, most politicians are motivated by self-advancement. Unambitious people generally do not pursue positions of power. However, that does not preclude them also being motivated by other considerations.

In fact, I might argue that one of the essential qualities of a good leader is skill at finding ways to advance ones' personal ambition in a manner which also advances the interests of the public.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

So, I'll add as an additional quality (albeit a very broadly-defined and largely unquantifiable one):

-Be able to channel ones' ambition into a useful public service.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by aerius »

Charisma and integrity. And by integrity I mean once he's bought, he stays bought.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Zwinmar »

My warped and cynical view:

They have to have the ability to suck off someone so that they can get in a position to be elected. That willingness to compromise everything for their own personal power trip is not something I could do.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

You can't compromise everything, because eventually people figure out that you have no real principles and cannot be trusted. Even the perception of that is damaging

Look at the problems being perceived as an insincere panderer and liar caused for Hillary Clinton. Here's a hint: their names are Bernie Sanders, and President Trump. ;)

Okay, that's a huge oversimplification, but it was definitely a factor in her unexpectedly difficult primary battle, and in her subsequent defeat in the general election.

You have to be willing to compromise, but that isn't the same as being a whore. If you are to function in any kind of society, much less hold office, you have to recognize that you will have to make concessions to others. All the more when, as an elected official, you are supposed to represent all of your constituents.

But at the same time, their have to be some things you will not compromise on, both for ethical reasons and because if you compromise on everything, and contradict yourself, eventually people are going to stop listening to your promises and conclude that you're not someone they can trust enough to do business with, so to speak.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Tribble »

The Romulan Republic wrote:That is part of what politics is about, but it is not the whole of it.

What is accomplished by this smug, simplistic cynicism masquerading as wisdom? Of insisting as a matter of absolute truth that all politics is the same, that politics is only, and can ever only, be about screwing people over? Because as far as I can see, the only purpose it serves is to normalize political corruption, to tell people "This is the only way it can ever be, so their is no point demanding anything better and you're just a fool if you care or try". Which in turn encourages both lower turnout and radical ideologues, and by treating this as the sole motivation of all politicians, makes someone like Trump seem acceptable, normal.

In fact, given the obvious implications of such a philosophy, I would consider it an overtly undemocratic argument.
Yes, I am quite firm in the belief that getting elected, staying in power, and using their office to advance their agenda and satisfy their ego / self advancement needs (whatever they are) are the primary goals of most politicians. That doesn't mean I agree that's the ideal as far as the general population is concerned, but they do seem to be dominant characteristics. If those characteristics were not to their advantage in some fashion one would think that social Darwinism would come into play and weed them out, yet that doesn't appear to be the case.

Now some politician's egos might well be satisfied by being the "ideal" political candidate you describe and thus one should vote for them when possible, but that certainly seems to be the exception at the moment rather than the norm, and its even rarer for those candidates to win:

Case in point (just to use a non-US example): in the last Canadian election out of the major party leaders Thomas Muclair certainly seemed to be far closer to your ideal than the others. Yet in the end he lost badly to Justin Trudeau, a man who brought no real qualifications to the table apart from his family name, connections, physical attractiveness, and complete willingness to flat out lie to the electorate in order to win. This is why IMO "ability to get elected" and "ability to get re-elected" are the single most important traits for a politician to have - it doesn't matter how good of a theoretical leader you are if you are unable to get into / stay in office.

And let's be honest - politicians are never going to get remotely near 100% of the vote (unless they re in a literal dictatorship) and their policies will inevitably end up screwing some people over in one way or another, intentionally or not. The question is only a matter of degree, and whether or not said screwing has a net benefit to society as a whole in the long run.

I don't mean to say "don't do anything". Obviously, if any good is going to come out of it people have to make a choice and try and pick the best politician as possible in the circumstances (which is being made more difficult by the day with the rise of Alt-news).
I try to see the way the world actually is rather than what I'd like it to be first, then try to figure out ways to make it better from my viewpoint. This may be one of the reasons why left-parties seem to be losing a lot at the moment as they seem to be stuck in some sort of idealistic fantasy world without acknowledging the reality around them.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Tribble »

Unfortunately, it should be noted that "abilities to win election / get re-elected" need not be positive traits like charisma. Things like being able to gerrymander, suppress your opponents' votes, having unlimited corporate donors, exploiting the electoral college system etc. all seem to work to a degree, though obviously I wouldn't advocate using said tactics (I'm not that much of a hypocrite). It's just makes it that much harder for the ideal candidate to win "fairly". Changing how elections work should be a priority.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Tribble wrote:
The Romulan Republic wrote:That is part of what politics is about, but it is not the whole of it.

What is accomplished by this smug, simplistic cynicism masquerading as wisdom? Of insisting as a matter of absolute truth that all politics is the same, that politics is only, and can ever only, be about screwing people over? Because as far as I can see, the only purpose it serves is to normalize political corruption, to tell people "This is the only way it can ever be, so their is no point demanding anything better and you're just a fool if you care or try". Which in turn encourages both lower turnout and radical ideologues, and by treating this as the sole motivation of all politicians, makes someone like Trump seem acceptable, normal.

In fact, given the obvious implications of such a philosophy, I would consider it an overtly undemocratic argument.
Yes, I am quite firm in the belief that getting elected, staying in power, and using their office to advance their agenda and satisfy their ego / self advancement needs (whatever they are) are the primary goals of most politicians. That doesn't mean I agree that's the ideal as far as the general population is concerned, but they do seem to be dominant characteristics. If those characteristics were not to their advantage in some fashion one would think that social Darwinism would come into play and weed them out, yet that doesn't appear to be the case.

Now some politician's egos might well be satisfied by being the "ideal" political candidate you describe and thus one should vote for them when possible, but that certainly seems to be the exception at the moment rather than the norm, and its even rarer for those candidates to win:

Case in point (just to use a non-US example): in the last Canadian election out of the major party leaders Thomas Muclair certainly seemed to be far closer to your ideal than the others. Yet in the end he lost badly to Justin Trudeau, a man who brought no real qualifications to the table apart from his family name, connections, physical attractiveness, and complete willingness to flat out lie to the electorate in order to win. This is why IMO "ability to get elected" and "ability to get re-elected" are the single most important traits for a politician to have - it doesn't matter how good of a theoretical leader you are if you are unable to get into / stay in office.

And let's be honest - politicians are never going to get remotely near 100% of the vote (unless they re in a literal dictatorship) and their policies will inevitably end up screwing some people over in one way or another, intentionally or not. The question is only a matter of degree, and whether or not said screwing has a net benefit to society as a whole in the long run.

I don't mean to say "don't do anything". Obviously, if any good is going to come out of it people have to make a choice and try and pick the best politician as possible in the circumstances (which is being made more difficult by the day with the rise of Alt-news).
I try to see the way the world actually is rather than what I'd like it to be first, then try to figure out ways to make it better from my viewpoint. This may be one of the reasons why left-parties seem to be losing a lot at the moment as they seem to be stuck in some sort of idealistic fantasy world without acknowledging the reality around them.
My point is not that I believe in some fantasy world where most or even many politicians fit these criteria*, or that someone who fit these criteria would not have other faults.

My point is basically two-fold:

-To ask what we should look for in an elected official, what are the basic characteristics one needs to be good at the job. A sort of bench mark to aim for (or as close to as possible, at least).

-Secondly, that sweeping generalizations about how all politicians are corrupt and self-serving don't really serve any productive purpose. They are exaggerated cynicism which in my experience tends to undermine any productive discourse. One can acknowledge the faults of the political culture without exaggerating or oversimplifying them, or forgetting that politicians are ultimately just people, and like all people, possessed of characteristics both good and bad, as well as their own individual motivations.

*That's not to say no one ever does. While obviously a very exceptional example, I would cite Abraham Lincoln, off the top of my head, as an example of someone who I believe fit every criteria I have mentioned. Hell, Obama fits them all at least most of the time, if not to the same degree. That's not to say that either of them lacked for flaws as leaders, of course.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Gandalf »

Electability is the most basic thing. If they're not electable, then it's just masturbation.

The rest is up to the voters. In a democracy, people eventually get what they deserve.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

To a point. For one thing, I would say that a candidate who fails to be elected can still have a profound impact on the political discourse, either by drawing attention to topics which usually don't get a voice in mainstream politics (see Bernie 2016), or by vote-splitting and effecting the outcome (see, for example, the complaints about Nader in 2000).

But then, I suppose the question is what you, as a voter, look for in a candidate. And what qualities tend to be beneficial in making a candidate electable.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Gandalf »

I'd be inclined to call that some sort of performance art.
"Oh no, oh yeah, tell me how can it be so fair
That we dying younger hiding from the police man over there
Just for breathing in the air they wanna leave me in the chair
Electric shocking body rocking beat streeting me to death"

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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

What? Influencing the political discourse while not actually winning, or being able to convince people to vote for you? ;)

Most politics is to some extent a performance art. And most performance art is probably to some extent political.

And suddenly I feel like it makes a lot more sense that my two main interests in life are politics, and film/theatre/television. :D
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Gandalf »

The Romulan Republic wrote:What? Influencing the political discourse while not actually winning, or being able to convince people to vote for you? ;)
The first one. The second one is more like sales. :P
And suddenly I feel like it makes a lot more sense that my two main interests in life are politics, and film/theatre/television. :D
All life is performance and production.
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Just for breathing in the air they wanna leave me in the chair
Electric shocking body rocking beat streeting me to death"

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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by Tribble »

The Romulan Republic wrote:-To ask what we should look for in an elected official, what are the basic characteristics one needs to be good at the job. A sort of bench mark to aim for (or as close to as possible, at least).
Again, electability is the single most basic characteristic a political candidate needs to have if they want to hold office. If a political candidate doesn't have that ability all he/she is really doing at best is drawing attention to their pet issues, or perhaps splitting the vote. While the ladder two can certainly have an impact it's nowhere near the same thing as actually holding office.

Note that the specifics of this criteria can vary considerably from one election cycle to the next so what makes an electable candidate today does not mean the same candidate would be electable tomorrow. It varies on a variety of factors.
The Romulan Republic wrote:-Secondly, that sweeping generalizations about how all politicians are corrupt and self-serving don't really serve any productive purpose. They are exaggerated cynicism which in my experience tends to undermine any productive discourse. One can acknowledge the faults of the political culture without exaggerating or oversimplifying them, or forgetting that politicians are ultimately just people, and like all people, possessed of characteristics both good and bad, as well as their own individual motivations.
As I said previosuly, having a big ego, ambition and desire for self advancement is not necessarily a bad thing. IMO it's perfectly possible for a politician to have a big ego, have great ambitions and be self-serving etc yet still have a net benefit to the public, it depends on what drives said person. A political office generally has more importance, has more impact and has greater powers than those afforded to the average person - should it really come as a surprise that the people who run for political office also tend to have correspondingly larger egos and ambitions? I don't think so.

All this really fails to address the big elephant in the room (which is a fitting comment for the US in more than one way) - that politicians tend to only be as good as the political structures and cultures which support them. Want to really improve the quality of political candidates? You'll have to start by voting for candidates which are serious in their determination to reform things like the electoral college, gerrymandering, voter suppression, unlimited corporate donations etc. Otherwise, unscrupulous competitors will abuse the hell out of the system as much as possible to maximize their chances of victory, as Trump just did.
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The Romulan Republic
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Re: What are the essential qualities of a political candidate?

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Tribble wrote:
The Romulan Republic wrote:-To ask what we should look for in an elected official, what are the basic characteristics one needs to be good at the job. A sort of bench mark to aim for (or as close to as possible, at least).
Again, electability is the single most basic characteristic a political candidate needs to have if they want to hold office. If a political candidate doesn't have that ability all he/she is really doing is at best is drawing attention to their pet issues, or perhaps splitting the vote. While the ladder two can certainly have an impact it's nowhere near the same thing as actually holding office.
Agreed, as far as it goes, but just as a great candidate who goes nowhere is useless, so is an electable candidate who can't actually do anything worthwhile once in office.
Note that the specifics of this criteria can vary considerably from one election cycle to the next so what makes an electable candidate today does not mean the same candidate would be electable tomorrow. It varies on a variety of factors.
Granted, though some things, particularly charisma/ability to emotionally connect to voters are likely to be near-universally assets in a democratic system.
As I said previosuly, having a big ego, ambition and desire for self advancement is not necessarily a bad thing. IMO it's perfectly possible for a politician to have a big ego, have great ambitions and be self-serving etc yet still have a net benefit to the public, it depends on what drives said person. A political office generally has more importance, has more impact and has greater powers than those afforded to the average person - should it really come as a surprise that the people who tend to run for political office tend to have correspondingly larger egos and ambitions? I don't think so.
No argument here.
All this really fails to address the big elephant in the room (which is a fitting comment for the US in more than one way) -
Heh.
that politicians tend to only be as good as the political structures and cultures which support them. Want to really improve the quality of political candidates, particularly in the US? You'll have to start by voting for candidates which are serious in their determination to reform things like the electoral college, gerrymandering, voter suppression, unlimited corporate donations etc. Otherwise, unscrupulous competitors will abuse the hell out of the system as much as possible to maximize their chances of victory, as Trump just did.
Opposition to voter suppression would fall under the first criteria I listed, willingness to play by the basic rules of a democratic system and the rule of law. Depending on how much you stretched your definitions, you could include all the other issues you listed as well. In particular, I have a difficult time regarding the US system as "democratic" while the Electoral College determines the outcomes of our Presidential elections.

Unfortunately, the candidate who made the strongest stand on reforming the democratic system last time around is Bernie, and, well, he lost. And its difficult to get reform on these issues, because the people who win tend to be the ones for whom the existing system worked, obviously.

Edit: Although I do think that their's a real shot at, if not abolishing, at least neutering the EC if the Democrats win next time around. Since the EC is getting a lot of blame for Trump, and seems to always favour Republicans when it goes against the popular vote.

Voter suppression is also something that is more being pushed by one party (at least in the general election- their were voter suppression allegations in the Democratic Primary).

Campaign finance reform is probably going to have to wait for the Supreme Court to revisit the issue, if that ever happens.
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