When you're having trouble deciding who to vote for

This is a previously published post, but still viable today...
Our country is facing numerous problems.  It’s up to us to send the best qualified people to help solve them, but sometimes that's hard to determine, so here's a checklist that I hope will help.

 5 things to look for in a candidate (and why they are important)

• ·             Education/Intellect
• ·         Work Ethic/Accomplishments
• ·         Problem solving capacity and ideas
• ·         Perspective
• ·         Integrity

Why these?

Education/Intellect -- Think of it this way: would you work with an investment advisor who wasn’t educated and who didn’t understand basic economics?  Or a doctor that quoted cliches and generalities?  The problems we face are complex; we need representatives that can understand them.

Work Ethic/Accomplishments -- has the candidate accomplished anything for the good of others?  Did they put themselves through school or was everything handed to them?

Problem solving capacity and ideas-- can the candidate appreciate the multiple facets of an issue?  Have they put forth actual solutions they want to work on?  Would they reach “across the aisle” and work with the opposition to get a better solution or just sit back and vote “no”?  

Perspective -- It’s a global world, whether we like it or not.  Can the candidate appreciate the impact other countries actions have on us (and our on them?) Do they understand and respect other cultures?  

Integrity -- Do they pay their taxes and obey the laws?  How do they run their campaign?  Do they take responsibility and explain their voting record?   How many special interest groups are big donors to their campaigns?  How much PAC money is being contributed?

Scoring:  For each positive attribute the candidate has, they get one point.  If they have a negative attribute (for example, they are running a smear campaign) give them minus one.

 If you feel an attribute is very positive, give them two points if you like. 

You might be surprised how your scorecard totals come out.  If you find this helpful, please add a comment.

Where to find information:  do an Internet search for voter information, league of women voters, and/or board of elections.  You can also visit individual candidates’ sites.

In my area, there are many judges that are elected.  The judges, and county commissioners, are elected officials that many voters really don’t have good information about, yet make decisions with impact!  It’s worth your time to look these up before voting.