What qualities do you want the next U.S. President to have?
 

Shares the views and beliefs of the working man: lower taxes for the middle/lower class.

Do SOMETHING about these blaphemous gas prices.

Bring our boys home!

The most important quality?

Live up to the oath of office...

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

...and preside over an administration that is as transparent and open as possible.

Now that would be refreshing!

In order to win, candidates must lie and tell half truths and are already too tainted in my opinion. It would be so refreshing to have an honest President (or any polititian for that matter) but few people would vote for them.

I'll go with the honesty flow.

I can't imagine it, though. A man in the House that takes responsibility for the decisions he makes. One who will find the answers to the questions (i.e. gas prices) and fix those messes. Mostly, a man willing to show this country what integrity's all about. :eek:

Sort of. I don't want a president who favors one group of people so much that they are against another group of people, but I do want a president who recognizes that increased power brings increased responsibility, and that those who are significantly wealthy due to the benefits provided by our society owe something back to that society. What would be particularly useful is if the top 1% of earners had a few graduated tax brackets within the group. Someone earning $1 billion a year should not be taxed the same as someone earning $1 million a year, and we could increase the benefit such earnings provide to society quite a bit by recognizing this. But now we're getting into a specific policy and not just a general quality, so I'll stop there.

No way. Our gas prices are not blasphemous: they are beginning to more closely reflect the costs of our consumption, both politically and environmentally. Not to mention, complaining about our gas prices is pretty ridiculous in the global context, where Londoners pay well over $6 a gallon. Now, a president who will do something about the cost of energy is something I can get behind. We need to invest in cleaner and more politically responsible energy (note: this distinctively excludes bio-fuel, which is neither politically nor economically responsible).

Responsibly, and with respect for the tumult we have thrown the Iraqi people into.

Amen to that. I've mentioned before, one of the main reasons I support Obama over Clinton and McCain is his relative dedication to a more open and transparent federal government. We have the tools, it's time to use them.

And just so I'm not only responding to what others have said, I'll add that it's important to me that a president be intellectually curious and willing to listen to others, even if s/he ultimately chooses to disagree with them. I'd like a president who respects (and, many times, defers to) the opinions of distinguished people in various fields - particularly scientific fields - but I think that may be a little too much to ask this election. After all, none of the major candidates so far would agree to a science debate. So, I'll settle for intellectual curiosity: anything is better than the bull-headedness of this administration.

When it comes to things like this, I look at honesty as an overall quality, not a specific quality. In my opinion, it is very possible to be an overall honest man yet still succumb to the necessary half-truths and white lies of the election. I'm not going to hold it against a generally honest person when they are put in a position where they need to be specifically dishonest. We're only going to move toward a more honest, open, and transparent government in small steps, and so that means supporting the candidates who will push us in that direction, even if their level of honesty isn't ideal. Because, like you said, where we stand right now the ideal level of honesty is unelectable, and honest people know this. Some decide that it's more important to stay specifically honest than to try and change the system. Others decide that it's more important to work toward changing the system from within than to avoid telling occasional half-truths. I side with the latter. So long as they're honest and don't mislead the public about important things (the idea of a gas tax vacation is a good example, where it would be either irrelevent or even harmful to the people, but is being treated as something which would be beneficial), then I'm ok with it.

Be as pissed off and bitter as I am.

Actually, I strongly disagree with this. I want a president who is willing to recognize when people are pissed off and bitter, but not one who is pissed off and bitter him/herself. Being pissed off and bitter can tend to cloud one's judgement. I'd rather have a president who is empathetic enough to recognize those things, but detached enough to still view the overall picture. One does not need to have the scars of experiencing injustice in order to have deep concern over issues of social justice.

Ideally: honesty, integrity, compassion, wisdom, courage.

What I'd Settle For: the grace to be a little ashamed of themselves when they hold us down and fuck us.

We currently have a detached president. He would have benefited greatly from experience with problems in government.

Someone with no daddies issues that isn't into fat chicks. And to expand on levite's wish - someone who has the common courtesy to give the common man a reacharound while fucking him in the ass.

Yes, we have a detached president, but you'll notice I listed other qualities like empathy and a sense of social justice - both things which our current president lacks (not to mention the other qualities I mentioned in my earlier post).

Honestly? At this time, I would settle for a president who, when I hear them speak, convinces me that they have a higher reading level than I do.

In an ideal world? Someone who, when you ask them a question, actually answers it. Honestly. Someone who (and it frightens me a bit that I have to say this) doesn't want the country to move toward a theocracy. Someone who will admit when they've made a mistake and actually attempt to rectify it. Someone who values civil liberties and privacy as much as I do. Someone who believes the government should operate as completely transparent entity, except temporarily when there is a clear and immediate danger in doing so. Someone who believes that we may just be over extending ourselves in the world and that we need to pull back a bit and focus on home for a while.

someone who will not create an environment in which this is necessary:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/wor...ontroversy.cnn

Someone who doesn't view their citizens as revenue streams.

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How about someone who doesn't belong to a political party?

Someone who knows what the hell they are doing.

Awesome tits.


And no, Hillary does NOT qualify.

Integrity

Ability to speak proper English.........

I'll second that.

A leader, not a poll watcher ... with honesty, integrity, strength, and conviction ... keeping campaign promises would be nice.

In addition to a lot of the above, I might like to see an innovator and forward thinker who can see where mistakes have been made and correct them, while bringing us into the future. Could we ever rebuild our infrastructure on such a grand scale while investing in our citizens ala Roosevelt or is it just too much? Could we have someone with some forethought into energy and moving us forward? For example, could we use the existing rail lines but outfit them for better, cleaner, more modern engines, faster and more efficient engines, which could then be used for the next generation to come? Could we have someone who would be willing to put a health plan in place? Someone with goals that make sense and that are satisfying and attainable, with proven results that almost all of us can see. Education, real education of all types and genres - again investing in people. Investing in people - getting us out of the situation were in around the world, saving lives. Having a plan, being humane.

Investing in peace.