The ideal political candidate is someone who is honest about their views. The candidate must stand by what he believes in — even to the detriment of his political career — and not pander to the masses. The candidate would be someone who doesn’t dodge issues, but faces them head-on. We need people in public office who are not afraid of their own convictions, but instead are proud of them and are willing to engage in debate about them and will stand by what they say in a campaign if they are elected.
— Alan Herzfeld, Contributing Writer
The ideal candidate would be morally upright and care about the character and not just the condition of his constituency. He or she would be practical and intelligent while still showing the qualities of an everyman or everywoman. Unlike so many candidates these days, he or she wouldn’t descend from a blueblooded family that would pay his or her way through life, but rather would understand the typical American citizen’s toils and joys by working to get to where he or she would be. In other words, the ideal political candidate would encompass the sacrifice of a teacher, the resolve of a leader, the conviction of a preacher, the concern of a friend and the empathy of you or me.
— Evelyn Hsieh, Staff Writer
Providing a limited government with a strong national defense is the motivation of the ideal candidate. War is a terrible last resort, but the ideal candidate identifies conflicts regrettably immune to diplomacy, especially when our most dangerous enemies are beyond negotiation. As a potential role model and defender of the Constitution, integrity is everything for him. His background lies in business, where efficiency, perseverance and motivational skills are crucial for survival. Wisdom is more important than knowledge; a conservative’s MBA speaks louder than a liberal’s B.S.
— Ryan Darby, Senior Staff Writer
The ideal political candidate is just, wise, courageous, dynamic, brutally honest and sharply intelligent. He (I use “”he”” to refer to a person of either sex) sees the big picture and acts in the best interest of the average person, not his most generous contributors. With a psyche of steel and a fully functional conscience, he’s immune to the seduction of money and power. His ideas and plans are efficient, novel and independent of any group, political or otherwise; he has an uncanny ability to see what needs to be done, regardless of what people want to be done. In short, he would never make it in American politics today.
— Marianne Madden, Contributing Writer
The ideal political candidate: is intelligent, capable, modest, rational, non-judgmental, coherent and convincing; knows what he talks about and talks about what’s important; is open to new ideas and immune to big money influence; has a clearly defined set of ethics and a clearly defined set of issues; votes for what he believes in rather than what his party believes in; is able to laugh and able to cry; and most importantly of all, sees people as people, not just votes in a ballot box.
— Logan Goh, Staff Writer
The persona and character of my ideal political candidate takes key characteristics from many leaders. The wise and peace-loving leadership of Gandhi would be divine. The honesty, integrity and peace negotiation characteristics of Jimmy Carter are a requirement. The trailblazing leadership for the less fortunate by Eleanor Roosevelt is a must. The courage and non-partisan leadership as shown by John McCain is a requisite. Mix all this together and out comes the perfect recipe for the ideal candidate.
— Parisa Baharian, Senior Staff Writer
Clearly, the ideal political candidate is Natalie Portman. She has served as the royal leader of Naboo and the Senator of Naboo. Natalie also has a lot of White House experience, having been the First Daughter (“”Mars Attacks!””). She received straight As in high school, aced her SATs and is currently attending Harvard. She speaks Hebrew, French and Japanese, and has an interesting take on gun control: “”No women, no kids”” (“”The Professional””). Lastly, I believe the most important characteristic about a political candidate is charisma, and Portman is incredibly charismatic: If she asked me to sell my soul to the devil, I’d ask for a pen.
— Bertrand Fan, Senior Staff Writer
My ideal candidate would have the guts to speak truthfully on the issues that matter instead of running his or her mouth with the rhetoric that voters are supposed to find appealing. There is undervalued worth in a leader that admits to a mistake he or she made while in office. In an era plagued with corporate corruption, a “”judge, jury and executioner”” foreign policy, and an energy law responsible for the fleecing of billions from Californians, it is no wonder that our nation’s consumer confidence is the lowest it’s been in nine years. It would be easier for us to cope with the truth about an error than one of the well-calculated lies or half-truths we find everyday on page one. Just tell us the truth and don’t rip us off.
— Evan McLaughlin, Senior Staff Writer
