As a non U.S. citizen without any legal right to vote, it's been interesting these days to watch as the election unfolds all around me and I hear opposing sides, and yes, have opinions but not a damn thing I can do about how I feel.

It's frustrating to call America home in many ways, and yet not be able to have vote, to have any say in the future, when all of my efforts both professionally and personally, work not only for me, but I hope for some betterment of the united states. Even if all I do is give to the economy, which I hope is not all, then I am contributing.

But to choose a leader is another thing entirely, and for all of my many years, I can honestly say that I have never once had the privilege of voting either in my own country (too young, and we're a monarchy anyway, and in reality, I would call Scotland my country as it is but as we are the poor stepchild of Britain, we have no queen, no leader of our own, so this leaves me, well, homeless or in a land anyway where I must settle for a leader who is elected by others.

Being in this position means that you must have a great deal of trust in those around you. I've never been one to trust easily. I look around at most of my neighbors and wonder do I really trust these people to vote for me? I like where I live, but to be sure, it's not where I want to live for the rest of my life. Voting means that you make what is hopefully, an intelligent and educated decision and choice. My fear is that although everybody should and does have the right to vote, that for too many it has become or always was an emotional issue that is often taken for granted (hence, those who do not use their god given right to vote), or a choice that is made based solely on who they find likable. If I were to vote this way alone, the choice for me would be simple. Likable is harder, I think, in some ways. Charisma is something you either have or you do not have. But having charisma does not always equate with having the smarts to run a super power, and likewise, sometimes being smart, even super smart, does not equate with having the charisma and charm that is required for important issues like foreign diplomacy and foreign relations.

In any country, in any electoral process, you need a leader who has a fair measure or more of both. One who has the charisma of Mick Fleetwood, say, and the smarts of someone like Steven Hawking, Steve Jobs, Isaac Newton, and on and on - though I'm not sure all three belong together in one sentence, the point is that you need someone who is just that diverse in terms of smarts and is oozing with charisma the way Kennedy was, or even Clinton, who I'm not fond of and never was (I actually like George Senior more than Bill, sorry folks.)