To the editor:

The date of the Iowa caucuses is looming closer and closer, that leap year phenomenon when we have the opportunity to make an outsized impact on the selection of our next president. This is not a responsibility I take lightly, and I’m one of the rare ones who actually enjoys this event – although I do admit to also enjoying getting past all those phone calls and radio ads.

It’s taken me a while, but I’ve learned it’s dangerous to vote for someone who tells me what I want to hear. Because I want lots of free stuff, a new sports car, more leisure time and more money.

Unfortunately for my dream, reality intruded somewhere along the line. I realized that it’s not just what I want that matters, but what that candidate can actually deliver toward making my life, and the world, a little bit better. And ultimately, the realization that most of the responsibility for my happiness lies with me – just with me.

But the caucus is about that other person, some person crazy enough to want the presidency, and whether they can help accomplish any of my hopes for me and my world. I’m looking for a pragmatic candidate, one with a demonstrated ability to lead, one willing to consider other opinions and reach across the aisle for the good of the country as a whole. I want a proven track record, not someone that needs on-the-job training or leaves me uncertain as to what their goals and aims truly might be.

When Alabama or Ohio State search for a new football coach, they don’t make that hire based on the great promises the applicants make. They look for a record of results, of getting the job done. If we want to remain a great country, shouldn’t we be doing the same when selecting a president?

I think we have those candidates running, right here in Iowa, and we have the opportunity to give them a boost toward the presidency. We have a particularly great crop of Republican governors running for the nomination, and one in particular I plan to support at the caucus Feb. 1 -John Kasich. I hope you’ll consider joining me.

Fred Wirtz

West Bend