Some of you have asked me how I plan to vote in the upcoming election. I suppose the first thing to say is that I always vote. It’s too important for any citizens to miss.
But honestly, the voting booth is like a confessional booth — confidential. It is the secular version of what it means to have a calling in religious vocations. As a citizen, it’s your most basic part of a job description.
Unlike dictatorships where one person controls the vote, in a democratic republic we the people help determine who is in office, provided, of course, the vote is fair, free and accurate.
It’s not my job to tell you who to vote for, but I can relate how I go about making decisions with a few criteria that I have found apply not only to political offices but also to selecting leaders in community or private institutions.
I have a simple formula for assessing which candidates I vote for: C+C+C=Choice. It’s so easy to remember the process, I can recall it easily and use it whenever needed. Here are the three criteria I consider for making decisions, not necessarily in this order: character, competency and commitment.
Character matters. Who a candidate is and what she or he values is important because I believe it is a strong indicator of what that person will probably do in office. Using a mantra from the sports world, “leaders lead by example.”
Competency is how a person tackles the job being sought. You can assess this by how successfully the person has accomplished tasks in past positions or what those who know this person say.
Commitment is about what the candidate believes is most important and how willing that person is to follow through on promises made or kept. Essentially this is about a person’s vision for the future.
Perhaps these three ways to make decisions might appear too simple, but in confusing times when we are bombarded with information it’s necessary to be as clear as possible for making choices. There is what one commentator called a “firehose of lies,” but what is needed is a firewall of truthfulness..
Because I’ve been a student and a teacher, I’m accustomed to homework. So I give myself some before voting. I listen to what candidates say and read about their backgrounds and positions. I also listen to what they don’t say or refuse to answer because that offers clues to what they really believe. I also check references, not just from supporters but those with proven track records of objectivity. I also try to sort out what the candidate offers as a vision of the future — is it one that offers a clear and promising picture?
Finally, the old warning of “buyer beware” applies to making these choices. Listen for lies and false conclusions. One I have heard lately deals with the issue of character. One reader said to me, “I don’t like this candidate’s character but I do like the policies.” One could reverse that by saying you like the character but not the policies. I have found that character and policies are connected, not separated. Who a person is will influence and even determine what programs or policies are followed.
A basic rule for looking at a person’s character comes from writer Maya Angelou: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
I suppose after you’ve voted and elections are finally over, all one can do is wait, watch and worry about what will happen. None of us can completely predict outcomes. History takes strange twists and turns. Some we chose for offices end up doing more or less than we hoped. We have even discovered that after all our research, we were wrong about candidates and the issues. Being wrong is part of what it means to be human. Not acknowledging that is the reason we continue to fail.
Laughing at ourselves and the antics of others is a cure for taking our decisions too seriously. Perhaps that is why the wisdom of W.C. Fields makes sense: “Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.”
John C. Morgan is an author and teacher. You can email him at [email protected] His weekly columns appear at www.readingeagle.com.
