# Forget the canddiates, tell me about the Presidency

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-canddiates-tell-me-about-the-presidency/421786>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 6, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-canddiates-tell-me-about-the-presidency/421786 "2007-10-06T20:23:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-canddiates-tell-me-about-the-presidency/421786/1 "2007-10-06T20:23:29Z")

</div>

So we’ve polled and debated ad nauseum about the presidential bids for '08. Let’s put that aside for now. I’m interested to know what is important to you in the Presidency itself. Tell me what you think the president’s most important areas of influence are.

Mine are:  
What they do militarily and in foreign policy  
Who they apoint to the SCOTUS  
Enforcing out current laws (illegal immigrants being the current fad)

Mine aren’t:  
Making laws  
Tax reform  
Social issues like gay marriage

As you can see, I value his/her skills at appointing and controlling, not his workings w/ Congress. What do you all value most?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-canddiates-tell-me-about-the-presidency/421786/2 "2007-10-07T06:08:59Z")

</div>

I don’t care for a president’s economic skills, because I don’t think the presidency has that much influence on the economy.

I do care about his political skills, his foreign policy, his stance on science, and his stance on social issues like gay rights.

I also don’t want a bumbling fool representing America, so I care if he can speak properly.

Also, law making might not be important, but the laws that candidates propose to implement when they get to office are important. If Hillary gets elected by saying she is going to reform health care, you can rest assured that congress is going to seriously consider reforming health care.