The next president of the United States should be capable of seeing the Big Picture. We have seen how many of the candidates can make effective sound bites, touching photo opportunities and cutting verbal attacks. Those are tactics that can help win them an office.

But do they see the Big Picture?

The Big Picture would give our next president a vision of what needs to be done. Obvious concerns include medical insurance for all Americans, support for Social Security, aid for education, a comprehensive energy and environmental policy and a national defense program coupled with diplomacy.

That’s a corner of the Picture. The next president’s view must also encompass the impact of globalization. America has been deindustrializing as millions of jobs are outsourced. It is also de-servicing as many non-industrial jobs from call centers to tax processing are being outsourced overseas. Our next president must have a vision of what will replace these jobs and how we will prepare people for them. If nothing or too little is done, Americans will be divided more and more between haves and have-nots. It could come to look much more like developing nations in this respect.

The Employee Free Choice Act cannot languish during the next Administration. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Department of Labor (DOL) were created to protect the Labor Movement and workers’ rights. Under the present Administration, the NLRB and DOL have been subverted and used to thwart the Labor Movement and individual rights.

This attack on workers and their unions has no place in the next president’s Big Picture.

Our basic rights as citizens require that government exert its powers cautiously. The Bush administration has aggressively trodden on these rights. Unfortunately, the Democrats have cooperated with the White House in such matters as the Patriot Act.

The president taking office on January 20, 2009, must see the Big Picture and act fairly on these issues. We, as voters, should not be swayed by photo ops, verbal sparring or political ad campaigns.

Study the candidates. Review their records. Examine their policy positions. Assess how they’ll look at the Big Picture.

How will you and your family look in the Big Picture framed by the next president? That’s the question you need to consider.

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