What if we didn't have this crew of candidates on either side in the seemingly never-ending presidential campaign? What if we could pick the people who were going to run for president? Without getting too outrageous or out-there, I'll get the ball rolling and leave the floor open. I'll throw out a couple of names and reasons why.

-Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.): Yes, I know he was just elected in '06 but he was president of the state senate before that. He's a farmer, he's very intelligent, common sense and he's got a crew cut.

-Former Governor Roy Romer (Colo.): One the toughest, smartest, forward thinking people I know. I had the honor of workng for him so I'm admittedly biased . After serving three terms as governor, he could have been elected senator easily. He went on to be the schools superintendent in Los Angeles. Talk about walking the talk. He did. He finally retired at age 78 or so, but he's better than many.

Mostly I look for people who speak their mind but are open and will listen to others. No one knows it all and being president means being smart... and smart enough to choose competent, forward thinking people. I came out of the last election saying we need a Teddy Roosevelt wrapped in a Will Rogers and I still see that need.

Best future leader? Rep. Hannah Pingree (Maine). I have rarely met someone as bright, articulate, composed, responsive and yes, easy to look at. Mostly, she's very competent and at 30 yrs old is the majority leader in the legislature. A real future.

That's my quick, off the cuff evaluation, and also my way of saying I'm not crazy about any of the candidates to date. We can do better as a matter of public discourse, as a way of healing the country and moving forward. We can better. What do you think?

PS. I'm going camping for the weekend so see you next week.