One person's view of how to vote

Here are some principles that I've gathered along the way that has helped me frame how I vote:

1. One does not elect just a president, but rather an army (7,000) of administrators and officials.

2. Presidents typically enact policies that are mostly, 85 percent by some estimates, along party lines.

3. Even if a president is soft on a given issue, their counselors and advisers typically are not and will smooth out any rough edges so the president conforms more to party-line views.

4. Thus, voting more for the party than for the person makes sense.

5. Although there are many practical issues that both parties can theoretically agree on, there are decidedly different philosophies between the Democratic and Republican views of civil government. Issues pertaining to the proper scope and role of what a civil government can or should do is fundamental to knowing how to vote.

6. The appointment of judges, Supreme Court and otherwise, is a huge consideration in the election of any president, as judges typically stay in office longer than president in office. A president's philosophy of governance will long outlast his/her terms of office.

7. Expand the definition of "government." Picture concentric circles, with self-government or self-control the middle circle, with family government as the next inner circle, followed by religious government, employment government, until one reaches civil government. And, in the American system, civil government has various circles of authority. Much confusion today results from not appreciating the fine balance between these different spheres of authority. The more one cultivates the nearer forms of government, less dependence is needed on the more removed forms of government.

8. The truth of No. 7 will go far toward blunting the almost idolatrous notion that a president will singularly make or break a nation.

Norman Suire

Elgin