Would a scientist make a better president?

After years of watching George W. Bush make countless bad decisions, I began pondering who would make the ideal candidate for the next president of the US. Do we want another typical politician or would a scientist do a better job?

Qualities of a Great President:
assertive
achievement oriented
opinionated, but open-minded
confident
competent
not always entirely honest with us

Looking at these traits, scientists do seem to fit the bill. But would anyone vote for a Scientist? What do you think - would a scientist make a better president?

Absolutely a scientist would make a great President, although because logic would trump emotion, he may get lousy ratings. Remember Jimmy Carter.

Utter fantasy!

Professionals in general (let alone scientists) are not electable. See Colin Powell, Wesley Clark. Anyway in democracy, elected officials are only servants of the people. If there's a problem, it's with the electorate.

Professionals are not electable -- in the USA. Because too many voters here use relational anecdotes to filter out candidates. "He's a Pharmacist! I ain't gonna vote for no Pharmacist cuz one of em gave me some bad pills oncet." The secret to being electable -- in the USA -- is to be as non-categorizable as possible.

Most politicians -- George Bush is an excellent example -- are radical utilitarians. Their definitian of truth is whatever is most useful for their immediate purposes. By this standard, it is virtually impossible for a politician to lie. Scientists, on the other hand, have very fussy notions of truth as an abstraction that must be crept up on by reason and careful observation. The two mind-sets are incompatible. A scientist who became a politician would cease to be a scientist in any meaningful sense of the word.

C TTS378604 wrote:Utter fantasy!

Professionals in general (let alone scientists) are not electable. See Colin Powell, Wesley Clark. Anyway in democracy, elected officials are only servants of the people. If there's a problem, it's with the electorate.

The question is not would the US ever elect a scientist as the president. For this topic let's assume a scientist "could" win the election, would they make a better president?

McCain versus Jim Watson? Or Obama versus Douglas Melton? Would a scientist do a better job then the typical politician?

IMHO, a scientist would NOT necessarily make a better president. Of the president's top ten responsibilities, at least 7 of them involve persuasion, cajolling, enrolling, finding common ground, compromising and intimidation. The scientist (even an excellent one) untrained in these arcane and ephemeral crafts would be at a total loss.

Criteria For Presidential Candidate

A. Suggested criteria

- "...would a scientist do a better job as a president..."?

- "Qualities of a Great President: assertive, achievement oriented, opinionated but open-minded, confident, competent, not always entirely honest with us"

B. Only personality-related criteria?

Is this a "scientific" reflection about presidential criteria?

Personality:
1 : the complex of characteristics that distinguishes an individual or a nation or group; especially : the totality of an individual's behavioral and emotional characteristics b: a set of distinctive traits and characteristics
2 : distinction or excellence of personal and social traits; also : a person having such quality, a person of importance, prominence, renown, or notoriety

C. Relevant Performance(s) record not included in criteria, only personal traits

Is our presidential election just a super big beauty contest?

Kitsch:
1 : something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality
2 : a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition

A worried elderly US citizen,

Dov Henis

At least personality is better than chosing a candidate based on racism or sexism.

In recent conversations with many peers, it seems quite apparent that racism is still a major issue in the US. I know too many people who are voting for McCain because he is white, and looks like the other 43 presidents before. This thought process sickens me. Especially when you consider that I live in NJ. I can't imagine what the racism in the south is like! People believe all the planted stories that make Obama out to be a enemy rather than positive change. When confronted with the truth, a few people actually laugh that 'I buy into that'.
What do people think will happen if a non 'white' president takes office?

If McCain wins, I'm moving to Europe!

Scott has a point. And it made me think of another one. Many "folks" not only want a president who looks like the other 43, but they also want one that thinks and talks like THEY do.
I'm a moderator on a science-discussion website and we've had two posts so far containing complaints that Obama is "too smart" and uses language aimed at "the elite". Both posts were difficult to read due to spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
But I'm serious about this. We have a lot of citizens who are uncomfortable with any candidate who sounds like they went to a "KALIJ".

If McCain wins, I'm moving to Europe! See ya over there, Scott!