Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here . ••• The written word is subjective.
As a writing teacher, I tried always to provide my students with a rubric to guide their work. This way they knew upfront how their essays would be evaluated, and I felt I could be more fair about assigning a grade to their words. For example, my rubric might give a solid thesis statement 10 points, well-developed arguments/content 30 points, good sentence structure 20 points and grammar and usage 15 points, giving the whole essay a possible value of 75 points.
As the presidential election starts to rev up, I got to thinking maybe this idea of creating a rubric would help us voters decide, unequivocally, who is the most presidential candidate according to a rubric of qualities most valued in leading the free world. For example, here is a rubric weighing the features I feel would be most important in a president: _____Honesty (50 points). This means refraining from gaslighting or telling Americans what they want to hear, rather than the truth.
_____Integrity (50 points). Having values and a moral compass that never waver whether they win votes or not. _____Intelligence (30 points).
The ability to understand the complexities of our world. _____Listening. (40 points).
Being able to collaborate with other experts. Being open to hearing different perspectives before making decisions that will affect our peopl.
