We have plenty of candidates ... how should we choose?

Thank you Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for NOT running for President. Likewise Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR). Also Eric Holder, former US Attorney General. The Senators will find good work to do where they are. Holder is doing a solid working against gerrymandering. They are all honorable and attractive guys, but there is such a thing as too many and too much and we're close to there with the mushrooming Democratic primary field.

When Holder bowed out, he wrote up a list of what he thinks we should asking about potential candidates. It's not a list of policy prescriptions, so it might seem just vague sentiments. But it is still early and Democratic policy prescriptions will come. For now, I think it is fair to ask what underlies candidate policy prescriptions? What intellectual and moral foundation do they emerge from? Here are some of Holder's questions about Dem aspirants.

• Is this a candidate of integrity whose honesty will help rebuild trust in our institutions?

• Does the person have the capacity — both mental and physical — to handle the rigors of the Oval Office?

• Does the candidate have the experience to revitalize a federal government that has been mismanaged at home and diminished abroad?

• Will this person have the ability to inspire the American people and bring us together?

Reading these, I found myself asking what are my questions in a similar vein? Here are a few.

• Can this person situate whatever policy prescriptions they offer in the context of our grotesque and growing economic inequality?

• Does this person suggest a plausible theory of how to make government work within a Constitutional system full of check points that prevent forceful action?

• Can the candidate convincingly envision action to enhance justice for those who know they've never had a fair shake by reason of race, gender, family circumstances, or any of the multiple other imposed statuses which leave so many feeling left out?

• Does the candidate value hard earned information, experience, and expertise?

I don't expect miracles, but I'll be looking at the primary candidates in this light.

What do you want of candidates beneath and beyond attractive policies? We all want health care and a $15 minimum wage ... but there is so much more.