Sometimes when one thought process does not appear to be working, it’s a good idea to try a different one. Let’s set aside at least temporarily the peculiar customs that our national media have recently adopted whereby a presidential election is treated as if you were voting for your favorite reality television character or circus act.

Please imagine instead that you are a member of a hiring committee whose mission is to find the most qualified candidate for the highest public office in the United States. You are encouraged to give weight to each candidate’s relevant professional experience along with his or her demonstrated history of character and leadership.

Your committee has four applications. The first comes from Green Party candidate Jill Stein, a Harvard professor and physician. Although her liberal platform appeals to the more progressive members of your selection committee, a glaring gap in her resume is her lack of legislative or executive political experience beyond one term in the Lexington Town Assembly. Your committee determines that she is not qualified for the position.

Another application has been submitted by Libertarian Gary Johnson, a former Republican whose background was in construction prior to two terms as governor of New Mexico. There he was known primarily for budget cutting and frequent vetoes along with his support for the legalization of marijuana. The conservative members of your committee like his cuts in social programs but do not support his liberal position on marijuana, while the progressive members of your committee feel precisely the opposite in both areas. His application is set aside for further consideration, but with skepticism from all your committee members.

The third application comes from Donald Trump, a billionaire businessman who has built resorts, golf courses, casinos and skyscrapers in the United States and throughout the world. His detractors on your committee point out that he has zero experience in elected office, and that his business record is a mixture of successes and failures checkered by bankruptcies and defaults to creditors and contractors. They also point out that he is arrogant, insulting, sexist and xenophobic. His supporters counter that Trump is not afraid to say what he thinks and that he would make America great again.

Curiously, the conservatives on your committee do not appear to be troubled by Trump’s denouncement of the war in Iraq, his harsh criticisms of President Bush regarding the 9/11 attacks, his outspoken admiration for Russian strongman Vladimir Putin or even

his personal history as a playboy with multiple divorces. There is sharp division on your committee regarding Trump’s fitness to serve as president and considerable uneasiness about what he might do with his finger on the nuclear weapons button.

The final applicant for the job is Hillary Clinton. Even her critics on your committee concede that she has the strongest resume for the position. She already has served eight years in the White House as first lady, eight years as U.S. Senator from New York and four years as secretary of state, in addition to her earlier experience as first lady of Arkansas and in private law practice. Her critics also acknowledge that she is tough and politically resilient. Her supporters on your committee insist that she is by head and shoulders the most qualified candidate for the job. Her detractors counter that she is not trustworthy, that her term as secretary of state was marked by growing unrest in the Mideast, and that she should not have used her private email server for government business that involved national security. Her supporters counter that Colin Powell also used a private email server while he was secretary of state and maintain that there is much more smoke than fire in the whole email scandal.

Outside your committee chambers, a crowd is gathering. A loud group is chanting, “Build That Wall!” and “Lock Her Up!” while across the street, another group is quietly holding signs that say, “I’m With Her.”

The time is closing in for you to make your decision. You are about to choose the leader of the free world, the person who will help to determine the future of your children and grandchildren.

Please choose wisely. Our republic is in your hands.

John McColgan writes from his home in Joseph.