The Education of a Statesman

Americans are clearly troubled by the state of their political leadership and the quality of candidate choices in recent elections. According to a Pew Research Center study released in September 2023, 72% of Americans rate the overall quality of political candidates in recent years as poor, while just 26% regard them favorably. These findings are roughly the same across the political spectrum and represent a marked decline from 2018, when 47% of Americans gave positive marks to the candidates running for office.