EDITOR: My neighbor said, “I only vote conservative, no matter who is the candidate.”

Well, that’s good, but what does “conservative,” or “liberal,” really mean in today’s national crises? Left Wing-Right Wing-Center; Republican-Democrat; Moderate-Radical; Liberal-Conservative; Socialist; Progressive, etc. It’s nonsense, it’s a big blur with the candidates’ platforms. I, myself, have been an Independent/Unaffiliated voter since I started voting in 1968. The 2020 presidential election will be the most important election, in my lifetime. It’s not about “parties,” it’s about our “country!”

Does it really matter how we identify ourselves when this nation faces crisis, such as: War, Pandemics, financial collapse, terrorist attacks, social injustice, a divided nation, foreign cyber invasions, nature’s disasters, on and on? The answer is NO! Political labels are meaningless. It’s all about this nation’s LEADER, regardless of political affiliation! Today, being a conservative does not equate to being a Republican, or being a Democrat does not equate to being a liberal. Labels are a blur. “It’s about leadership!” True presidential leaders rise to the crisis occasion.

Presidential historians almost totally agree that Washington, Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt and Eisenhower, were considered the five greatest of all U.S. presidents. Deseri Garcia, in her 2019 book on presidential leadership, named common leadership qualities/characteristics of these great presidents: Strong vision, with strategic planning, crisis management skills, ability to apply their experiences to today, character and integrity, no blaming, ability to work with Congress, and make wise appointments.

Doris Kearn (PBS 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner) stated that: Empathy, resilience, communication, openness, impulse control, and relaxation are six essential presidential traits. Michael Siegel, author of “The President as Leader” states these common five traits: 1. compelling vision, 2. ability to implement the vision, 3. focus on a few major goals at a time, 4. understand the implications of making key decisions and, 5. selection and management of the cabinet. Personally, I need to be inspired, too.

Our job, as a citizen, is to use these traits of historically great presidents as benchmarks to select our next president. We need to evaluate the candidates’ real change agent value to the nation, and not be seduced by a political label. Today’s White House is paralyzed and combative politically, infested with corruption, constant streams of misinformation, racism, and all led by an “impeached” President.

We need a leader that mends and unifies a seriously divided nation. We are not a blue America or red America, like in the Civil War days. We are a one America that desperately needs its soul and spirit back, worldwide respect, and adherence to our constitutional principles, more now than ever. As a citizen of this beautiful democracy, please study the raw facts, reflect, vote, and vote wisely.

— Tom Nelson, via letters@sentinelcolorado.com