Looking for Superman

It's dawned upon me in this election year--and also with the Olympics and the somewhat baffling love/hate relationship China has with its athletes--that what we have here is a Superman problem. When mild-mannered Clark Kent decided to go public with his superpowers, his mom stitched him up a blue and red costume that he donned whenever he launched himself at the world's crises. Likewise, billionaire Bruce Wayne had a signal that he was changing into his alter ego. When problems arose, he got out the flashy car and costume that showed he was stronger, smarter, faster than mortal men, not to mention morally superior.

It seems to me that we want a reverse process in politics. We seem to want a superhero, a card-carrying, costume-wearing, genuinely super-powered individual to adopt a mild-mannered persona, complete with business suit, red tie and flag lapel pin..someone who will then use his superpowers to solve all our thorny issues in a blast of super-speed. Likewise, in the Olympics, we seem to want our human athletes to be superheroes, redeeming all our failings (as individuals and as nations) in their triumphs. What we require is someone who looks like us, but can transcend all our faults and be all that we wish we were. A very different kind of superhero--perhaps even a savior.

The fact is, it ain't gonna happen. We may have candidates who dodge questions faster than a speeding bullet; politicians who think themselves more powerful than a locomotive, and others who can leap tall questions with a single bound. But, the bottom line is, they are only human, no matter what they wear or what they promise. It all comes down to the kind of human they are and the values they uphold. Rather than looking for supermen, we should be looking for people like us who hold the same values precious and who will work in their own human way to have those values inform our decisions as a nation. They should be humble enough--and smart enough--to know their own limits, and to surround themselves with advisers who are the best and brightest in their fields, rather than cronies and those to whom they are indebted politically or financially. They should represent not a bird, not a plane, not Superman--but our own high hopes and expectations. I'm looking for that in my candidates, be they running for national, state, or local office.

November is nearly here. Up, up, and away!