Do you have it all? Style substance and empathy? Then you could be in the running to be Ireland's next First Citizen, writes NOEL WHELAN
THE NEXT presidential election is probably more than 400 days away but already the parties and the media are prowling around prospective candidates.
At this stage it might be better to focus on the type of candidate best suited to winning and serving in the presidency rather than on the perceived strengths or weaknesses of particular candidates. It is said that the man (or woman) maketh the office but there are pre-determined written and unwritten specifications for this job.
Basic age and citizenship criteria are set by the Constitution. A candidate must be an Irish citizen and have reached their 35th year on or before election day. The McAleese precedent reminds us however that there is no requirement that the candidate be born in the Republic or that they be resident here at the time of contesting.
The usual route to presidential candidacy is through nomination by 20 members of the Oireachtas. Irrespective of whether the presidential contest comes before or after the next general election, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour will have sufficient Oireachtas members to each nominate a candidate if they choose. Even allowing for by-election or general election outcomes, it is also likely that some combination of smaller party and independent members would have the numbers to nominate a candidate.
A candidate can be nominated by four county or city councils. This path lay dormant for 60 years but came to life in 1997 when two of the five candidates were so nominated. A greater diversity and belligerence in local government means there is every likelihood a candidate or candidates could again emerge from this route.
A capacity to make their way through this party-dominated process is obviously therefore a key criterion for any wannabe president. The unwritten criteria in the minds of party managers or others considering a bid are more difficult to distil.
Profile matters. If a prospective candidate is widely known, that will greatly assist. However, the nature of the profile matters as much as the extent. If a sizeable portion of the electorate has an ingrained negative perception of a candidate before the race even starts, that can be difficult to dislodge.
Working with a candidate whose image is only known in outline has its attractions for campaign managers because it allows the candidate’s image and brand to be coloured in during the course of the campaign. Trying to shake off the “no problem” caricature of Brian Lenihan snr in 1992 was a real difficulty and the fact that it resonated during the Duffy tapes controversy didn’t help.
Looking and sounding presidential matters. This is after all a contest for a job dominated by appearances at home and representing the country abroad. A candidate has to be easy on the eye and the ear. I am not arguing that to be Ireland’s next president you need George Clooney’s looks or Terry Wogan’s voice but as little as possible about how candidates present themselves should grate.
This is not a simplistic or sexist criteria; it is recognition of modern electoral realities. A sloppy or dishevelled candidate of any gender, with a preaching or hectoring tone, will not appeal because it’s not what people want in their president.
A capacity to communicate matters. Having lived under two high-profile presidents who were strong communicators, the public now wants to be impressed by what our president has to say and how he or she says it.
Substance matters. The candidate will have to be somebody with a substantial record of achievement that can be presented as a significant contribution to the public good. As it happens three of our last four presidents were senior lawyers but a legal qualification is not a pre-requisite (God forbid!). The public will, however, seek assurance that the candidate will be able to exercise careful judgment, most importantly on the small number of occasions when the president has real power but also when making hundreds of little decisions each month about which invitations to accept, who to associate with and what to say.
Political organisation matters. More than ever, presidential elections are shaped by media coverage but a candidate will still require a large countrywide political campaign. A candidate backed by at least one of the three larger parties will have an advantage but it would be wrong to think a nationwide ground-level campaign could not be put in place without them.
Above all else, what the candidate has to say will matter. While the presidency has no executive function, it has significant “soft power”. In choosing to attend certain events, and in using the venue and the status of the Áras to support certain efforts publicly or privately, the president can engineer change where appropriate. The tenor and emphasis of a president’s speeches can set the tone for national debate.
Our recent presidential elections have become occasions for a more philosophical debate about where Ireland is at, how it sees itself, and how it wants to be perceived. In these volatile political times it is difficult to assess the precise context for a late 2011 presidential election.
One thing seems clear however – to win in October 2011 a candidate will need a capacity to reflect and articulate the current public anger and confusion, have sincere empathy for those rendered unemployed or otherwise displaced by this crisis and be able to offer some hope and inspire confidence that we will get through it.