CANDIDATES: To be happy is perfect
Regarding the letter to the editor Oct. 2 that made the point very well, the GOP is desperate to find the perfect presidential candidate. I would like to add to the points made in that letter.
GOP; get over it, there is no perfect candidate; the closest the Republican Party, in my opinion, came to it was with Lincoln and Reagan. Lincoln had to fight the first civil war that involved class warfare as well and ended with the freeing of slaves and the beginning of the reunification of our nation. Reagan had to fight an economic civil war of sorts that also included class warfare and ended with the freeing of the economy restoring the pride and strength of our nation in the global economy.
All of us, Democrats, Republican and Independents should have learned by now there is no perfect candidate. Remember most of the nation thought they had one in 2008 by the name of Obama and now we have a worsening economy, a deepening national debt, a weakening of our strength in the global economy. I don't believe we can blame all that on Obama; he has no direct control over Europe's economy that also affects ours. However he has led us back to a civil war of sorts with class warfare.
Even if a president has no control of the economy, there is one thing a president can do, he can unite a nation or divide it. Many who thought Obama would be the perfect president are disturbed that it appears he has chosen to divide a nation with class warfare rhetoric in order to get re-elected.
There is no harm in looking for the perfect candidate for president; the harm is when you overlook the one who would be the best president. Perfect, is not always best; the danger is when you find one that believes he/she is perfect. George Washington didn't want to be president, he had to be talked into it... arguably he ended up as our best.
In the absence of the perfect president that some want and expect to fix things for them, why don't we take control ourselves and consider things we can STOP DOING that will help our nation as a whole and unite us even if a president will not? Don't vote for a Dem., a Rep. or an Ind., don't vote for entitlements or free government handouts that your neighbor has to pay for; vote sacrificially, vote for the future even if it means you get nothing from the government but your freedom in a united and secure America.
And just so you know, I'm not speaking from wealth at $1,641 a month and if I have a neighbor who makes 10 times that, then God Bless America, he/she was either smarter or luckier than me. Bottom line is it's their money, not mine.
One thing all of us in this imperfect world have in common: We all want to be HAPPY and anyone who is confined or overly controlled by another person or government will tell you HAPPINESS begins with FREEDOM, not the perfect candidate for president.
JERRY MARTIN
Post Falls