The Stress Test for the Candidates
Sometimes watching the news feels like reading the old Dick and Jane books. Run, spot, run! There they are, the presumed candidates, running, running, running.
Ten cities in ten days, how many cities and towns and meetings and tv appearances before the election? And all this without even a running mate yet. I’m exhausted just watching them step onto yet another airplane to crisscross the country one more time.
Flying is stressful, even if it’s in your own plane and your wife could pilot it. Being away from home, from being able to kick off your shoes and watch a silly movie on TV, isn’t on the program. You’ve got to keep in front of the media, shake hands, kiss babies, lean left, lean right, think on your feet!
What do they do to relieve the stress of campaigning, designing policies, redesigning strategies, keeping their kids out of the press, keeping their face in front of the public, hoping their wives have their backs since they don’t have time for more than an occasional fist bump?
Do they meditate when they first wake up or before finally hitting the pillow at night? Do yoga? Work up a good sweat by exercising vigorously on the airplane? Get enough sleep? Enough sun? Take hot baths with scented oils? Shoot some hoops? Anything that relieves the constant stress they live with.
Is this superhuman effort what we expect? If we catch one of them taking a short power nap, would we think he was slacking off on the job?
John McCain is in his early 70s. We know what stress can do to his heart. But even younger men like Barack Obama are not safe from the effects of stress. And when every word you say is analyzed for its impact, you can’t be tired, you can’t be stressed, because one slip of your tongue and tongues wag around the world.
Of course, we think, well, if they can’t handle the stress of campaigning, how will they handle those 3 a.m. phone calls in the White House where the fate of the free world depends on how much calm and clarity they can bring to their response to a crisis?
I , for one, would feel better knowing they were taking an occasional day off, a day of rest, time to sip a beer in the back yard and enjoy a little summer fun in the sun. Take a nap in a hammock. Run through a sprinkler instead of running, running, running non-stop.
So my test for the candidates would be a solitary weekend retreat, with no access to blackberries, iPhones, faxes, computers, or any other form of communication. Could they hack two whole days without going crazy? Without thinking the world would collapse without their presence? Without fear of missing something? The candidate who knows how to be with himself, by himself, and allow himself to de-stress, would be a winner, at the very least in terms of his physical and psychological health.
