Which is why I personally can’t understand why ALL Presidential candidates are not REQUIRED to undergo a background check and security clearance!!!
“Which is why I personally can’t understand why ALL Presidential candidates are not REQUIRED to undergo a background check and security clearance!!!”
Roger that!
We do have background checks. They're called "campaigns" and tend to last about a year and a half during which time the voters are allowed to inquire about the details of a candidate's life. If a candidate's answers aren't forthcoming or satisfactory, the voters are allowed to vote for someone else. In electing someone to office, the voters have bestowed upon this individual a security clearance.
That 69 million voters chose a candidate who through the course of an 18-month, multi-million dollar campaign revealed very little about his history is not a flaw in the system. It is the result of voters treating a presidential election as a popularity contest, as trivial as a season of American Idol.
Should a formal background check be required of a candidate? Would a candidate have to "pass" this background check in order to be on the ballot? Well, there's nothing in the Constitution requiring such a check and letting partisan hacks conduct (and thus "approve" candidates) would be treading into some pretty dangerous territory.
See how ugly this could be?