[wnxmaximus]

I think as people are realizing how little the President has that our requirement for a candidate are slowly changing. It seems the president doesnt necessarily affect many things directly since decisions have to be passed through so many different people before they are made. That being said, the President is the face of America, he represents us as a whole, his job is to reach out to us and the rest of the world and be the face of the American majority and our decisions and whatever else. Basically, he is there to take the bad rap or the praise, one way or another. Yes, he does have power, but it isn't an all encompassing power that can make or break us according to his own will.

Since we are realizing this, the character of candidates and their personal lives are being considered more and more as what would make a good president. We want someone charismatic, someone who gets along well with a lot of people. Of course we want our president to have good relations with other leaders and to present a reasonable and well spoken demeanor to the rest of the world on behalf of our nation. It just seems to me that each election the requirement we put on these men and women shifts to a more and more personal side, while slowly slipping away from a stricter analyzing of simply political ideas and beliefs. That is what I think is happening, but who knows.