‘None of the Above’ for me at the ballot box

There are a number of people who would make a great president. None of them are running. And I don’t blame them. Who would want to put up with the nonsense, the political and personal attacks or the demand for information that is guaranteed private for the rest of us?

In my opinion, anyone willing to put up with all that trash is too much of an egotist to be a good president. None of them are that superior to the rest of us. The best candidate for president would be someone who does not want the job.

I would love to see some kind of committee who goes out and convinces the best available candidate to put aside their current lives and serve in office with no program other than to serve the desires of we the people. That applies to all elective offices from President to dog catcher.

Again, I refer you to George Washington. He did not seek the role of Commander of the Continental Army. Congress called him to duty. He did not seek the position of Chairman of the Convention that wrote the United States Constitution. He was asked to take the role. Then he did not seek to become our first Constitutional President. He was pressured to take the role.

Did you know that some of the founders wanted to name Washington King? He flatly refused that title. They asked him to take another term as President after his two terms. He refused because he did not want to set what he saw as a dangerous example.

The plan of government set in the Constitution was designed to prevent any individual or component of government to gain absolute control and create a dictatorship. To accomplish that, they left the majority of political power in the several states, they set up a three-part government so that they would keep each other in check. Then they made it very difficult to change the Constitution so that their plan would not be easily overturned.

In his farewell address, Washington warned us about political parties. He pointed out that they set up a risk that elected officials would put their loyalty to party ahead of their loyalty to the nation as a whole. Today’s politics indicates clearly that he was right about that!

Therefore, I cannot support either of the major parties. I cannot support any candidate who takes part in the gross attacks on others in order to obtain the office of President. Usually, there will be one or more independent or third party candidates in the general election. I will study the personality and platform of each of them the vote for the one who most closely reflects my opinion. If that choice is one of the minor candidates, at least I will have expressed my opinion.

I cannot see any major differences between the likely candidates for the major parties. In my opinion, any of them will yield the same result: more gridlock and less government responsibility. And our nation will suffer due to their programs and personal egos.

So I plan to vote for a minor candidate simply as a way to choose “None of the Above.”

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frank@frankgillispie.com. His website can be accessed at http://www.frankgillispie.com/gillispieonline.