The Ideal Candidate

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

The Ideal Candidate

 

The ideal candidate for any public office

Believes whole-heartedly in democracy

Free, honest and fair elections

The unencumbered right to vote

Let every vote be counted

The majority decides

 

The ideal candidate knows the people

Feels what the people feel

Lives among the people

Represents the people’s interests

Talks with them and listens

Communicates her policies

Refuses corporate contributions

Answers for his actions

Takes full responsibility

 

The ideal candidate defends human rights

Against all abuses and encroachments

Without regard to race or religion

Gender or gender identity

Social class or economic status

 

The ideal candidate advocates peace

Supporting war only as a last resort

Only if the cause is righteous

For justice and national sovereignty

When all alternatives are exhausted

Without compromise on principle

 

The ideal candidate has her priorities

Consistent with history and the times

An age of global warming

An age of global crises

An age of critical decline

 

The ideal candidate may not exist

But the concept should

And voters should keep the ideal

Always in their minds