"Set standards first, and then choose whoever comes closest."
The filing of the certificates of candidacy for the May 2022 elections has started. Since Friday, we have heard announcements as to who is running for what post, who is not running after all, and who intends to keep us all in suspense until the last minute. We should expect more of this until the end of this week.
Then, too, election laws provide ample time for candidates to change their minds even after certificates have been filed. There is sufficient room to be a substitute or be dislodged by one. Politicians who go by some kind of playbook also have their timetable for this kind of gimmickry.
In the meantime, the public should not be distracted by the circus that has begun.
More than ever, we should be mindful of the many and great problems that our nation is facing especially during this pandemic: The still-uncoordinated response from various bodies and agencies, the deafness to the pleas of the overwhelmed health care workers, and the screaming signs of misuse of public funds pointing to immeasurable greed and entitlement.
As those vying for our votes do the paperwork, let us use this precious time, not to speculate on the names and faces and the positions they will eventually seek, but to lay down our personal standards in choosing who would eventually get our vote.
Instead of being a rapt audience to those who feel entitled to play mind tricks on the people, let us lay down, one by one, the attributes and qualities that we would like to see in an official occupying a specific post. Let us look at bare minimums that we would impose on a candidate, below which we would never even give an applicant a second glance. Let us identify the most important and immediate issues that need to be addressed, and set the position taken and actual efforts the ideal candidate needs to have to merit our consideration.
Let us be clear, early on, on what the negotiables and non-negotiables are that would influence the way we vote. Is integrity, for instance, negotiable or not? Track record? Personal demeanor?
And then when the list is finally out, many weeks from now, we can use these qualifications we have drafted for ourselves to measure whether candidate A or B or C deserves our consideration—or outright rejection.
The elections come at an interesting time. If we are not careful, we can easily be drowned in the noise and pageantry—as we have tragically done for decades.
We should do things differently if we want to reverse the course of our country. Let’s give the matter the deliberation it deserves. The stakes are just too high.