Right or Left?

The other day I was cruising along to work and passed a pickup truck that was just sort of ambling along in the slow lane. As I got close, I could see a sticker in the rear window that said "I think, therefore I am Republican". I suppose he believed that Democrats don't think about much of anything more important than how they feel. It seemed like the statement was just another version of an age old contrast. Left/Right. Me/You. Up/Down. Sweet/Salty. It reminded me of a commercial I saw on the TV recently where this woman was advocating the use of some new birth control drug. On the one side the girl appears to be conservative and straight laced. On the other, she is casual and carefree. It's the same girl but with two different perspectives on life. Conservative girl is logical. Casual girl is emotional. I guess the guy in the truck probably considered himself logical and would never lower his perspective to the simple state of being emotional. Politically anyway.

In my opinion, the leaders of our country need to be logical. They need to be thinking about the next steps for our country. How our actions today are going to effect our history tomorrow. That is important to me. However, it's also important that these leaders are sensitive to the needs of the people that put them in office. What good is it to be so far to the right that we lose our understanding of the needs of our fellow countrymen? Or to be so far left that we can't get the business of America done in a timely and efficient manner? We put our trust in those politicians. We the people understand that our country must be strong but our leaders must remember that we have human necessities that must be met. We want our leaders to remember the humanity of our nation as well as the potential power that our country can project.

I personally don't care what political party someone is affiliated with. I want to know that whoever is elected is a person of character, ethics, understanding and compassion. I want that person to be strong. I want that person to be thoughtful, to think. I also want that person to be have a strong feeling for humanity. I don't care if they pronounce themselves Republican, Democrat, Independent, whatever. Those are just labels that, in my opinion, don't mean anything. I want leaders with good minds and good hearts that have the best interests of the United States in the forefront of their daily existence.

I guess that I'm neither right or left or center for that matter. Surely, there is someone in this country that can fill the shoes that I imagine must be worn by the leader of this great nation.