Our nation is in the messy and emotional process of hiring a president, arguably the most difficult, powerful and complex job on the planet. Each of the finalists needs to succeed at two different challenges: campaigner-in-chief and commander-in-chief ("President Obama lifts decades-old U.S. arms ban on Vietnam," May 23).
Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo said you campaign in poetry and govern in prose, implying that appealing to emotions may help get you elected but governing successfully requires attributes like intelligence, experience, empathy and knowledge.
We now have one probable "outsider" candidate who successfully appealed to his party's darker instincts but who is not qualified for the highest office in the land and another flawed probable candidate who campaigns in prose but has shown the political ability to bring people together and produce results both domestically and internationally. The public's response to these two choices is that 57 percent or more of Americans have an unfavorable view of both candidates.
The question is will the majority vote their anger, fears and frustrations — on the right and the left — or will they rationally (and perhaps unenthusiastically) opt for competence and inclusiveness, even if the candidate's rhetoric is less inspiring?
The final outcome will depend on two factors: Which candidate gets voted "against" more often and the effectiveness of each candidate's surrogates. On the Democratic side, the chorus of surrogates who do campaign in poetry and who respond aggressively to all personal attacks on their candidate will include President Barack Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders. An effective and unified team strategy, in either camp, will make a big difference and could determine who will be our next president.
Roger C. Kostmayer, Baltimore