I think we can agree that a president should be competent, capable, up to the job — however you want to word it. But some presidents have not been; I will leave the list as an exercise for the reader. But what if we could start off with a list of candidates where all the candidates were competent and voters could choose based on policy differences?
I have a modest proposal for improving elections that way. Candidates for president should be pre-certified as likely to be competent.
What might such a pre-certification look like? Here are some dimensions that matter:
Free from financial conflicts
In addition to the current mandatory reporting, candidates would release to the public the past ten years of their federal tax forms — in full. Voters could then make their own estimate of the candidate’s financial entanglements.
Safe with national security
Candidates would show the level of security clearance they have obtained. This would include the date on which it was obtained.
Grasp of basic civics
Candidates would publish their scores on the AP Government exam, taken in the past ten years, and the full text of any of their written essays for it. Voters could set their own thresholds for competence.
Grasp of basic science
Candidates would release their ACT science subscore, taken in the past ten years (more stringent: release all ACT subscores). If there is a better, easily available evaluation of general scientific knowledge, please suggest it.
Clean criminal and court record
Before the diocese of Iowa ordains someone, they run a background check for a criminal record. The results of such a background check and a list of all court judgments against the candidate in the past ten years would be made available.
I am tempted to add areas for physical and mental health, but physical health might have eliminated some of our best presidents and mental health is so sensitive that it is difficult to imagine a way to document it (MMPI subscores? Any suggestions?). Are there other areas you would have the candidates document?
Clearly, to make these into legal requirements would require an amendment to the constitution — unlikely in any case and too rigid to allow for future tweaks. Instead I propose that a respected neutral body (the League of Women Voters? Mennonite Relief? UN Elections Commission? Wikipedia?) serve as the depository of the information and make it available easily to anyone who wants it. National parties could publicly state that they will only allow nominations for candidates who have fulfilled the criteria. Candidates could get out in front by voluntarily filing.
Perfectly doable.
A girl can dream, can’t she?