WANTED: Male or female, preferably male, minimum 35 years old, who wants to help others. Position consists of long hours, travel, relocation, time away from the family and absolutely no privacy. Your past, present and future will become everyone’s business, so those with skeletons in the closet need not apply.
Everyone around you will critique and judge everything about you, from your ethics to your razor burn. Everyone will be overanalyzing every word and hand gesture for hidden meanings. Trust no one, they are all waiting to stab you in the back while they shake your hand. You will start off wanting to leave a legacy and make changes, but none of it will come true. Everyone will know your name and your face. You will be talked about in every history and civics class from here to eternity, no matter if you succeed or fail. Interested parties should apply within.
Who would answer this ad? Someone who wants to be president? Why would anyone put himself, or herself, through this? It can’t be worth it.
Parents want their kids to become doctors, lawyers or president. What parent would want their son or daughter to grow up to be judged and set up to fail on a daily basis?
From the minute he steps into the Oval Office for the first time, the president is under constant supervision. His advisers and allies along with his enemies start second guessing every decision and believe that he or she could do it better.
President Bush rode into the White House under the promise that he wouldn’t touch any of his interns. He sneaked out of town, hanging his head, with one of the lowest approval ratings in history. People hated him. I can’t imagine how awful it feels to have the majority of the country openly hating me, wanting me fired and running out of town.
President Obama moved to D.C. promising to fix the economy and create national health care. A year after his inauguration, people are wondering what he spent his days doing last year, since he didn’t give us what he promised.
It doesn’t matter which way I swing on the political spectrum, I feel sorry for whoever calls the White House home. That has to be the most frustrating job. No matter what you do, there are always people trying to stop you and say they could have done it better. You can’t win, so why put yourself through it? They should ask in the oath of office if the man vowing to preserve and protect the Constitution is also OK spending the next four years beating his head against a wall.
In theory, I understand the reason countries need leaders. It is much easier to elect representatives who know what we want and will see them through in trying to get the whole country to vote on every issue. But the execution of these positions, and the people we elect to office are very different. The mixture of red tape, checks and balances, funding and personal agendas makes getting anything accomplished virtually impossible.
Not to mention, the process of campaigning and getting elected is so cumbersome that a person gets elected, gets a minute to breathe and is sent back out on the campaign trail badmouthing the competition.
They seem to be so worried about their images and losing their jobs that they don’t have time to actually do their jobs.
There are people who think politics are a way to make a difference and change what’s wrong with our country. I think that’s a noble aspiration, and there’s nothing wrong with trying to help people. I just haven’t seen any evidence to support the idea that politics and being President are the ways to accomplish these goals. There are too many people trying to stop you, and ready to shout “I told you so” the minute you fall short. Why put yourself through it?
