AMY GOODMAN: You’re listening to Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman. And before we move on to our next subject, which is the counterterrorism bill, as it’s being called now, that was just passed through the House, we want to ask this question again. If you were listening yesterday, you already heard it, but we want to get a response from you. What makes a person qualified to be president of the United States? We want to know what you think. How much and what kind of prior government experience is necessary? Do you think that someone who’d become president should have worked in a public interest nonprofit group before they become president, to prove their interest in the public interest? Should they be a parent? Should they know what it’s like to work for minimum wage? Should the president have served in the military or be an antiwar protester? What should she or he have accomplished in their lives before seeking the nation’s highest office? This week, Democracy Now! is asking you to think about these questions and write us a job description for the presidency. Get a pen, and we’ll tell you where to send your ideas. You can write it like a formal job description, a classified ad, or you can submit an imaginary résumé of a candidate you could support. Please send your presidential job descriptions with your daytime telephone number to Democracy Now!, 702 H Street Northwest, Washington, D.C., 20001. You can fax it to 202-737-3723 or via email at democracy@pacifica.org. Democracy Now! will post some of the best responses on the Pacifica webpage and will forward them to President Clinton and GOP front-runner Bob Dole.

We got one response after yesterday we put out this question, and part of that response, it’s from Jack Knutson: “Dear Democracy Now!, A president should possess all the characteristics that make an individual noble in spirit: self-sacrificing; concern for the welfare of others, especially the downtrodden; willingness to take risks at the expense of one’s own life and status; diplomacy and thought in action; above all, the lack of concern for what others think of them. A president should be decisive but flexible, strong but pliable, intelligent with common sense, scholarly but not pedantic, vigorous but not lascivious, approachable but not venal, patriotic but not nationalistic, economic but not miserly.” And he goes on from there.

He ends by saying, “The president can’t be a saint, being so preoccupied with worldly affairs, but a faith in that which transcends the mundane can help achieve all the previous mentioned qualities.”

Thank you for that, Jack Knutson. Well, join in and tell us where you think the president should be coming from and where you think she should be going.