I do not follow politics closely. I inherently mistrust most politicians. And when I vote, it's often a last minute analysis, and I frequently cross party lines.
But things are a bit different this time. Partly because my 14 year old son (thanks to Stephen Colbert) is taking an active interest in the candidates. Partly because the races this time are so see-saw and exciting to track. In January, months before the elections I find myself reading about the candidates and watching analysis on CNN and Fox.
And getting upset with the inward looking focus of most candidates when it comes to global trade.
This Fortune article really got me irritated. Particularly this quote from former US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor ""The public is not listening for how you expand trade... The public wants to hear just how frightened you are. Someone has to say, 'I understand it, I get it.'"
Our former trade rep who helped liberalize trade in the 90s!
No. I want a leader who tells the public to accept the changing world order, and learn to thrive on it. If jobs are headed to Shanghai or Segovia, we need to tell Americans to get our fair share with increased exports, and yes, even relocating there. Get our Generation G moving.
We are the country of Ernest Hemingway and Neil Armstrong and James Michener and Ben Franklin. We have always led in exploring new and exciting stuff around our earth and beyond. We have immigrants from every corner of the world who would be happy to, with the right encouragement, travel and relocate and help our exports. We have tailwinds for strong exports given the state of the dollar.
So what's this wimpy "I am frightened of the world" attitude we are pandering to?
I wish Jeff Immelt was running for President. But in his absence, I will vote for a candidate who comes out and says "We can and must dramatically increase our exports".
That's my litmus test. It's the moonshot speech I want to hear.
