What do you look for in a candidate for office?
5 Some voters might well place honor and integrity at the top of the qualifications list. Others, leadership ability. How the candidate stands on key issues ls important, of course.
Rep. Lee H. Hamilton, D-Ind. has his own idea on the magic qualification. In a speech in the House he noted recently that if elected, a candidate must address scores of complex issues. sometimes with very little public support.
“Anyone on the campaign trail these days quickly discovers that people are disappointed in the performance of the government. In their view, the govemment is not solving to their satisfaction the problems that concern them most. As a result, people are frustrated, angry, and even a little apprehensive about the future.
Given this mood. Rep. Hamilton said, the most urgently-needed commodity in public life is the official who understands the value of basic political skills.
“To put it another way, our most urgent need is for the official who can bring together different factions so that they work harmoniously with one another in the pursuit of similar goals. The business of politics is really the management of conflict, the softening of tension,. and the accommodation of differences within our fabulously diverse society. The task of the politician is to learn all he can about competing claims and pressures, mediate among them, and search for an acceptable solution.”
The Indiana lawmaker said that with all the forces that “operate to drive us apart, we simply must find officeholders who are skillful in building coalitions, uniting hostile factions, and encouraging diverse groups to move ahead toward common goals.”
Voters may differ on the accuracy of Rep. Hamilton’s assessment. Regardless, it’s time to begin to formulate an image of the ideal candidate . . . and the qualities you would settle for or reject when the opportunity of decision presents itself this year.