In choosing which presidential candidate a person will support, the most usual preoccupation for people in both parties is “what does he–or she–believe”? That’s certainly important, since a leader’s beliefs will manifest themselves in their policies and decisions. But there is something else to consider: How well can this person govern?
Having an ideology and having the ability to preside over a government are two different dimensions that are not necessarily related to each other. To run something–as a manager, an administrator, a CEO, a president–takes leadership; that is, the ability to get people to do what you want them to do. This, in turn, takes people skills such as diplomacy, the ability to persuade, effective communication, the capacity to inspire.
A candidate with the right ideas, solid all the way down the line, who lacks these abilities will not make an effective president. For one thing, ideology has little to do with much of what a president has to do. And to the extent that the ideology is important, any good ideas that the president might have will never be implemented without good administrative qualities.
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