What We Need

In A Candidate

To the Editor:

Watching the end of the Connecticut Republican gubernatorial debate, I was horrified that another election season was upon us and that the candidates were talking about the same issues they seem to always talk about cycle after cycle (insert “Blah” here). As if there is a difference between dems and repubs. Naaah. Same people, different toastmaster instructors.

They seem to all be using the same “shake the clenched right hand” approach to show their “calm” and well thought-out point (insert “yuk” here). Aren’t we just sick of conformist candidates? Even the President appears to be a monotone robot these days. He also uses the clenched hand approach which begs the question: “Where is the originality in our leaders?” and the more important question, “Are we electable if we abandon the clenched hand approach?”

I say we give up everything we think we know and look for leaders that don’t resemble our current candidates. I’d like a candidate who sweats a lot and is constantly wiping his head and neck with a towel and can be quoted saying things like, “I sweat profusely.” That shows me he either cares or is guilty. I’d like to see a candidate use their hands like my grandmother used to, to express emotion and we knew she meant business, especially when she slapped you. Swearing would be a nice quality in a candidate because sometimes you just have to drop the f-bomb. Puts people at ease even though we think we feel otherwise.

A good quality in a candidate would be lack of preparation which brings out spontaneity. Preparation is overrated. Tell us what you really think and let it fly!

For example, “What to do with Fairfield Hills?” “Why not turn it back into a mental institution and have its first group of patients be the last three Newtown administrations.”

Every candidate is prepared to take office on day one. I want a candidate who is prepared to take office on day two because they would like to party and cram in their office on day one. Political preparation is a quality we look for but one that should be abandoned because let’s face it, preparation really hasn’t worked out. The folks that say they’re prepared for office are just boring, uninteresting, and dishonest. I want to hear, “I am so nervous and unprepared about my new gig that my stomach has been going crazy.” We need candidates that have bad stomachs. We need candidates that can’t make the speech because they are in the bathroom and simply, not “holding it in.”

Gavin Preis

49 Flat Swamp Road, Newtown                                   August 3, 2010