How Should You Vote?

Believe it or not, this isn’t about partisanship! I think there are certain guidelines you can use to narrow down candidates, to improve who we get as elected officials because, Lord knows, there’s a paucity of good candidates at every level.

So–here’s a list of things to consider when voting for candidates. These are not in any sort of priority order, though I personally think the first about dogs is most telling.

• Do they like dogs? There’s actually correlation between good politicians and their ownership and/or liking of dogs. (There are exceptions, though…but I don’t want to discuss Godwin’s Law here)

• Do they own an American-brand car (Ford, GM, Dodge, etc.)?

• Will they be younger than 70 when their term ends?

  • Will they be younger than 75?

• Have they ever held a ‘blue-collar’ job at any point in their life–even if it was while a teenager?

• If they served in the military, did they see combat? (Or were they in a job that lets them brag about military service but keeps them FAR from danger–Al Gore and Ron DeSantis are great examples of this.

• Have they made their tax returns available for examination?

• All politicians frame facts, but does this politician outright lie?

  • Do they lie more than the opposing candidate?

• Would you trust your child to the care of this person?

• Has the person ever not been rich?

• Did they attend college somewhere other than the Ivy League?

• Can they discuss an issue without referring to the other candidate directly or indirectly?

• Do they have more than one home? (If currently in office, a residence in the state capital or DC does not count as a second home)

• Do they have their own ideas or do they campaign predominantly as “not _______________”, opposition to whatever the opponent believes.

• Would I feel safe leaving my daughter/granddaughter completely alone with them for the next several hours?