At the GOP Presidential Debate in August, Megyn Kelly posed a question to candidate Ben Carson about his “electability.”
"You are a successful neurosurgeon, but you admit that you have had to study up on foreign policy, saying there’s a lot to learn. Your critics say that your inexperience shows. You’ve suggested that the Baltic States are not a part of NATO, just months ago you were unfamiliar with the major political parties and government in Israel, and domestically, you thought Alan Greenspan had been treasury secretary instead of federal reserve chair. Aren’t these basic mistakes, and don’t they raise legitimate questions about whether you are ready to be president?"
Carson isn't the only candidate who is being criticized for his lack of experience. Donald Trump is also receiving backlash for making claims about illegal immigrants lacking in legitimacy.
What is really crazy is that these two candidates would put themselves into a position that they couldn't fill. Carson should understand this the most. To become a doctor he had to go to school for eight years, then complete six years of residency. Yet, for some reason he is firing back at his critics by saying that for any job you can study and learn and then be prepared for it. While this may be true in some regard, it doesn't take one year, which is the amount of time Carson would have to "learn" how to be president. What is truly baffling is that one of the hardest jobs in the country, a job that requires making decisions that affect a nation of more than 300 million people, is not a job for which you need to be vetted and prepared. It's a job that, in many ways, you can buy your way into.
Speaking of vetting the presidential candidates, how is it that there isn't a test to become president? There's a test to get into college, to get a driver's license and, ahem, to become a US citizen. Pretty much everything we hope to achieve is reached through some form of test. As a Government and Politics major, it is very distressing to me that there is a possibility one of these two men could potentially be our president. So I've taken this into my own hands. Here, Trump, take a crack at this test.
1. Have you read the Constitution?
2. What color is the White House?
3. In how many states is gay marriage legal?
4. Who is Jim Crow? What year did he die?
5. In what year was Gloria Steinem Playmate of the Month?
6. Which one does the U.S. not get along with, North Korea or South Korea?
7. What is a feminist?
8. How many World Wars have we had, and how many have we won?
9. Which countries are currently in the coalition against ISIS?
10. How much money did the Underground Railroad cost to build?
11. When was Mexico acquired by the United States?
12. What's the difference between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War?
13. How many branches of the federal government are there?
Five bucks says Trump would fail this test.
