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Mark Fisher: Treat the presidential race as a job interview

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Mark Fisher: Treat the presidential race as a job interview

Mark P. Fisher
 |  Foster’s Daily Democrat

As the dust remains unsettled following the presidential debate, the country’s attention has focused on how words and phrases were delivered. That goes for both candidates. Not what was said, but how.

The presidential debate boils down to how many facts can be pumped out in two minutes. Can you respond with an aggressive tone to your opponent in one minute and move on? Zingers and sound bites are, apparently, the measures of effectiveness.

In reality, none of these establish the capacity for a president or an administration to run a White House. Does someone rush into Oval Office and ask for a 2 minute dissertation on a topic, then leave checking off if you were able to do it?

Never.

I have had the opportunity professionally to hire people into teams I have led. When interviewing candidates for a role, I never quizzed anyone during the interview. The resume suggested they had the “table stakes” to do the job. I wanted to know how curious, humble, and willing to admit mistakes they were as evidenced by past behaviors. The vividness of the stories told helped me to know who they were and if you wanted them on the team.

Other candidates interviewed had examples that lacked details. Wandering in and out of specificity. Sometimes it was the book report by the 5th grader that had not read the book. “People tell me”, “I usually do” or “people are saying” means nothing. How you say you have done is not as valuable as what you have actually accomplished. Importantly as well is how you did it.

For this presidential “interview”, we have seven years of actual observation of both candidates and their teams doing the job. We know what they said, did, and how they did it.

Which person had the most stable staff, did not denigrate people or groups, learned from experts, learned from mistakes, and created economic, social and environmental progress? Which person was, and is, focused on expanding freedom and respecting all American’s irrespective of their race, gender or faith? And, of course, which person demonstrated leadership on the world stage, supported Ukraine, stood up to authoritarian leaders and supported our allies.

This is what I have witnessed in the last three plus years of the Biden administration. This was, in my observation, absent in the Trump administration’s four years.

Seven years of observation tells us everything we need to know.

I don’t know what will happen in the coming weeks and what decision President Biden will make relative to his campaign. I can’t predict the future. Should he choose to continue his campaign, I see it through this lens: Which person would I hire?

By focusing on what has been done and how it has been done, my decision is quite clear. Whether it is President Biden or a member of the larger Democratic team, I look at the outcomes, the behavior and what is being said. I would humbly ask that you look at the evidence and draw your own conclusions.

Mark P. Fisher is a Dover resident.

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