Policy, character, and competence are the exact markers that I used to determine who I would vote for during our last presidential election. I had not necessarily framed it as succinctly as former Department Homeland Security Official from the Trump administration, Elizabeth Neumann had described it on a news program, but it was in fact just that.

Are each of those markers equally important? I actually think so. Which of the three would you be willing to forego, and what do you think the impact of that would be?

POLICY

The candidates’ policy positions determine how they would govern. Which of the candidates’ policy positions align with my beliefs, my biblical beliefs? What policy issues are most important? There are many things to consider. Should there be a litmus test, and would or should one wrong policy position take one out of consideration? Of course, not all policies carry the same weight. What if their policy positions were only right for eight out of ten, or nine out ten policies that are important to me? How important are their policy positions? How do we know their policy positions?

During each presidential campaign, each candidate provides their general policy positions on their presidential campaign website. However, during the last 2020 presidential cycle, the Republican Party decided to not put out a new platform which would inform us of where they were on positions as it pertains to policies. It would be dictated by their then candidate, Donald Trump. This year, there is Project 2025 – Mandate for Leadership by the Heritage Foundation for the Republican presidential candidate. The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank that has provided detailed written policy guidance for republican presidential candidates since President Ronald Reagan.

CHARACTER

Honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, fairness, respectfulness, humility, and empathy are all character traits that might be important, along with curiosity. The candidate who is honest can be trusted to speak the truth and prove their trustworthiness. The candidate with integrity exercises being honest regardless of the circumstance. The candidate who is fair exercises impartial treatment. Respectfulness is seen in how they treat all image bearers with dignity and respect. The character trait of empathy allows the leader to understand and or share the feelings of another. Curiosity will never leave the leader satisfied but always with a desire to know more. Given that brief description, how important would the candidate’s character be?

COMPETENCE

Regarding the last marker competence, a leader who is competent has the knowledge, judgment, ability, and skill necessary to on day one execute the duty to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. A competent leader will ensure that he/she has highly qualified advisors and staff. A competent leader will be able take in information from various sources and distill the information to make sound decisions. How important would it be for the candidate to be competent?

Recognizing that no one is perfect, which marker if any would you forego if the candidate still possessed two of your markers? Would the candidate’s policy positions be enough alone? What about Character? Competence? What impact might either of those markers have on the other? Of course, the ideal would be that the candidate’s positions on policy perfectly aligned with your beliefs, possesses and exhibits great character traits, and exhibits competence, but that’s almost never the case, which leaves one having to decide what matters most.

Do consider and let’s vote!