I started watching John Stossel’s special on 20/20 (love Tivo) and he was talking about how people trusted the candidates who are running for president. Ah! That is everyone’s first mistake.

We are not elected a messiah or even a Moses. We are conducting a nation wide job interview. It is time people treated it as such. So what does that look like? Well, think about your own job experience. You give the prospective employer you resume then based on that and your interview they decide to hire you. You decide to accept the job based upon the expectations that were outlined for you.

NerdDad is currently working on a software feature with another person. The employer can’t hold NerdDad accountable for the other person’s productivity but they can hold him accountable (read: fire him if he doesn’t produce) for his work. NerdDad didn’t get his job to miracoulously produce every product for his company but to complete his job.

This is how we should view the presidency. There is a job with requirements. Then we look at the candidates’ interview, evaluate how their experience and temperament line up with the position and choose. Keep in mind that you are hiring for the position of President, not be all to end all. The first thing to do is go , brace yourself, read the Constitution! The Founding Fathers did a decent job of laying out what is expected. Then keep in mind that if either of these candidates could fix all of our and the government’s ails they would have done it already. They wouldn’t have been dependent on our little votes. They are just humans and therefore defecient in many areas and mostly jerks (who else would want the job?).

So take the emotion out of this election. Know what the Presidential job is and don’t confuse it with the whole Congress. Look at the candidate’s history and resume. Then choose. Wisely!