In the presidential election, many candidates are attempting to have a more prominent role in the media.
Presidents have been doing this for decades — ever since they discovered that the more people think they know you, the more likely they are to vote for you. When people heard about Donald Trump hosting Saturday Night Live, they began to question what other candidates would do well in a late night comedy setting. The general consensus was that no one else would be able to pull it off as well as Trump. Everyone else is either too calculating or boring to be able to keep up with the type of comedy seen on SNL. But is a candidate's ability to make us laugh really important?
While there is no real proof of this, I am pretty sure that the only reason Trump is managing to do so well is because he is the only candidate the media is reporting on at all times. This is due in large part to his somewhat divisive statements that are just tame enough to allow him to keep some credibility. He has made himself the center of attention for the media, and they are following him like a moth after a flame.
Every time I have seen a candidate being interviewed there is always at least one question regarding Trump. Then the candidate is basically forced to advertise for Trump during their moment to shine.
I believe most people are more interested in the Trump story and not Trump as a candidate.
Do we really need a likable leader though? Since a president’s job is to represent the United States to the rest of the world, he should have a decent personality. But there is a much more important role the president serves: The president is our leader. He or she is there to lead all parts of the country and not just those who agree with them. This is why we need a president that is not afraid of taking a joke at their expense.
We need someone humble enough to admit he or she can be wrong but intelligent enough to lead the country. This is a tall order given that most people that have the intelligence required for the job are overconfident in their own abilities.
While we need a president that can be both charismatic and clever, there also needs to be a balance. They do, after all, have an important job. We need a president that people can get behind regardless of our beliefs. We need to believe that the president has the best interests for the country in mind behind every decision they make.
This also requires us to lower our expectation of having a perfect president. Our leaders have to be extremely defensive, because we as a nation are so offended when we think there is even the slightest chance the president may have made a wrong decision.
In essence, we need more civility in our civilization — including in our leaders.