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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKRUGMAN!!!: Ideology and Integrity
MAY 1, 2015
Paul Krugman
The 2016 campaign should be almost entirely about issues. The parties are far apart on everything from the environment to fiscal policy to health care, and history tells us that what politicians say during a campaign is a good guide to how they will govern.
Nonetheless, many in the news media will try to make the campaign about personalities and character instead. And character isnt totally irrelevant. The next president will surely encounter issues that arent currently on anyones agenda, so it matters how he or she is likely to react. But the character trait that will matter most isnt one the press likes to focus on. In fact, its actively discouraged.
You see, you shouldnt care whether a candidate is someone youd like to have a beer with. Nor should you care about politicians sex lives, or even their spending habits unless they involve clear corruption. No, what you should really look for, in a world that keeps throwing nasty surprises at us, is intellectual integrity: the willingness to face facts even if theyre at odds with ones preconceptions, the willingness to admit mistakes and change course.
And thats a virtue in very short supply.
MORE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/opinion/paul-krugman-ideology-and-integrity.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region®ion=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0