In earlier times, it was common for politicians to write their own material.  In those days, we had political leaders like Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.  Where are contemporary leaders of comparable stature?

Maybe we need a way to recapture some key elements of the earlier environment.

Why couldn’t people whose online writing on political issues resonates with significant numbers of people go on to be candidates for public office?

The idea may seem a bit strange to us today, accustomed as we are to candidates having their “messages” crafted by highly skilled yet virtually anonymous speechwriters.  For one of these mere functionaries to present himself as a full-on candidate could seem as odd as having a muffler engineer present himself as a candidate for CEO of General Motors.  Where, we might ask, would all the necessary “political” skills come from?

But there is nothing inherent in a democratic system—and certainly nothing in the founding fathers’ vision—that requires politicians to be proficient exclusively in the arts of wheeling and dealing and fundraising.

We could use a few elected officials today whose qualifications center more around being perceptive, insightful, innovative, and in touch with their fellow citizens.  And these are precisely the qualities that are likely to be found in a writer about public affairs who has been able to establish a strong connection with enough people to render himself a viable candidate.