This article was refreshing for me to read against the backdrop of a national political climate which most often resembles something between a circus and a Roman-gladiator-style blood sport. I feel most American people have detatched themselves from any significant sense of the impact that politics have on their lives, and even worse, the impact their lives can and should have on politics. Only with this sense of futilism and detachment can a populace continue to accept blatent cowardice from candidates in the face of questions. Why are we not aghast that a candidate would pick and choose the questions they want to be expected to answer. And far worse, why are candidates successfully able to use this question-dodging technique to paint themselves as "strong-minded"? Because most of our political candidates no longer have the courage to have personal opinions, stances and beliefs that they may have to stand up for.

We cannot expect any one candidate to have all the right anwers all the time. But we can and should expect them to have the fortitude and integrity to know where they stand, be willing to discuss it, debate, reexamine it, perhaps learn and change it when shown their own errors, and most of all, be honest with us about all the whys. Naturally, some candidates will have more right answers than others or more popular stances than others. But that's what the electoral process is all about - for us citizens to give enough of a darn to choose for ourselves who we want. Not by their level of bullheadedness, but by their honest answers to all the questions we find important.