Our Next President

     In every country that holds free elections, the president is elected based on a "popularity" contest!  Typically, the voters choose the candidate that appeals to them most, personally.  Every candidate promises a better life for all, better income, better health care, whatever else that the particular country needs to improve.  It is only natural for most voters to think in terms of "what's in it for me? What can you do for me?"  If the particular candidate appears to offer solutions to the voters' problems, be they financial or otherwise, then that candidate will receive the votes.  It is pretty straight forward.  Of course there are those who are more concerned with the overall welfare of the country and vote on those grounds, but by and large, personal needs trump everything else.
     It is unfortunate that political issues, particularly of international affairs, take a back seat to personal needs.  It is said by some that the American public is the most politically knowledgeable, educated voting public in the world.  Whoever said that did not check America's voting records!  Despite the modern age of easy travel and the current instant communication and electronic information availability, we Americans fall far behind Europeans and even some Asian countries in political knowledge and sophistication.  As it is with everyone in the world, what is most important to the average American voter is, what can a particular candidate do for them?
     There are millions of people in America that literally live hand to mouth, work for minimum wage and can barely put food on the table and make rent.  Of course, that is still far better than what millions of others in the world face daily.  Everything is relative.  America's minimum wage is good pay in many countries!  Nevertheless, it is understandable that someone living under such circumstances would be most concerned about their welfare, rather than some political issue or world situation. 
     If you promise to put two chickens in the pot and pay the rent, they will vote for you!  Promising them that you will defeat the enemy in some far away land like Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria, will not generate the same kind of enthusiasm.  Let's face it, the primary opposition to illegal aliens in this country is because of economic reasons, the perception that illegals are taking away jobs from Americans!  Sure, illegals commit murder and other crimes, but the main reason is that they are thought to be taking jobs away from Americans.  So, everything is tied to economic well being, a citizen's ability to earn money, put food on the table, buy a house, and yes, buy a better car!  We are a car driven society, no pun intended!  In another, less affluent society, a bicycle will replace the car!
     As I said, all of this is completely understandable and quite natural.  It is, after all, human instinct to survive, to get food, to improve living conditions.  However, in today's world, things aren't quite as simple as that.  Everything is tied to something else in one way or another.  Without political stability there is no opportunity to improve life, to better the standard of living, etc.  Political stability, unfortunately, comes with a price and certain sacrifices. A country must be prepared to make concession to rivals/enemies (which is not a good idea), or defeat rivals/enemies in war - economic or military.  Lately we seem to be making more concessions than anything else! 
     To accomplish the goal of stability, you need a strong leader in today's world.  You can't have a leader that is too wrapped up in political maneuvering and deal making.  Diplomatic solutions may work and in fact may be the best solution at times, but a leader should be one who is willing to make that difficult decision to go to war, even if it costs politically.  In other words, in these times, what America needs is a "Commander in Chief," someone who is willing to command the military in time of need without concern for political consequences.  However, Americans have largely become anti war and have no stomach for any war.  Naively, many think that with today's advanced technology, wars can be fought with drones and other high tech equipment, so when soldiers do die in battle, they immediately want to stop the war.   As a population, Americans have been anti war since Vietnam era.  So, it is very difficult for any president to go to war, to convince the population that war is the only solution to a particular problem.  Because of that, we need a very strong president, a true Commander in Chief who is more concerned in winning the war to secure future peace than his or her own political life!
     Since World War Two, America has had only a few true Commanders in Chief.  The first one was Eisenhower.  Although Eisenhower was much maligned and misunderstood by the media, he was one of the strongest post war presidents that we have had.  Kennedy was in the office for too short a period to really make a difference, but he did show some signs of being a strong leader.  Everyone else from that point on were not that good as Commanders in Chief except for Reagan and the first Bush didn't do too badly either.  Clinton was nothing but a pure politicians, that's why he was able to survive all those scandals! George W. tried mightily, but failed because he had advisors with personal agendas.  The current president is perhaps the weakest of all in that regard.  He may have accomplished some things on the domestic scene, thereby satisfying some of his voters, but he has been a miserable failure on international affairs and lacks the ability to be the true Commander in Chief as he has shown repeatedly.
     Whoever becomes our next president, Republican or Democrat, let us hope that he or she will be of sterner stuff that will make a strong Commander in Chief, not a politician!  We are going to desperately need a strong Commander in Chief in the next several decades!  All of the Islamic Terror groups will not disappear.  The White House may have decided to call them extremists, but they are still terrorists!  They will no doubt continue to evolve from one to another.  The names such as Al Qaeda, ISIL or ISIS really don't make that much difference, they will change as these groups continue to evolve.  They will be with us for a long time to come and we need a leader who is willing to use all means to rid the world of this terrible scourge!
     Experts say that only 10% of Islamic population sympathize with or become extremists.  I don't know how accurate that figure is, but believe me, it is significant.  The Islamic population in America is between 5 to 7 million.  That means, we can count on having somewhere around 500,000 Islamic Extremists/Terrorists who will try to commit murder and mayhem right here!  That's half a million terrorists, larger than our current standing army!  Worldwide, that means there are millions of Islamic Extremists/Terrorists, but we already know that!  So, you can see how important it will be for our next president to be a strong Commander in Chief, not a politician who is concerned with their legacy!