The president I am looking for will expect us to be engaged citizens -- active, informed, responsible citizens -- and not mere supplicants, demanding ever more services and benefits.

He will base his policies on the human race's long practical experience with what works and what does not work in government. He will understand the power of incentives and disincentives.

While believing in limited government and working to restrain its appetites, he will remind us often that only government can do certain things, and that good government should focus intensely on just those things.

He will know the human heart, its capacity for atrocity and terror; but also its capacity for love, sacrifice and loyalty.

As President John F. Kennedy did, he will know that "the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe: the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."

With these ideas and this knowledge as guides, the president I am looking for will uphold these policies and positions on the following important issues:

The economy. Low taxes for people and businesses are the way to grow the economy, to encourage creativity and innovation, and to generate jobs and opportunity.

Long term, instead of enabling some citizens to rely upon the hard work of responsible, taxpaying citizens, we should encourage that great American entrepreneurial spirit to ensure our continued economic dominance. For example, encouraging advanced degrees in the hard sciences, not government handouts, increases individual productivity and our whole economy.

Terrorism. The president I am looking for will stand firm against the jihadists, their allies and those who intentionally underestimate the threat they pose in their war of attrition against us. He will know that legal action is insufficient to fight this war because the jihadists will twist our justice system to their advantage.

He will not pull troops out of Iraq until it is wise to do so. He will pull them out at a rate that will not precipitate a bloodbath, but at a rate that will increase the Iraqi's chances of stability, and will protect America.

Further, the president will fight hard to keep the tools necessary to fight this war; for example, warrantless wiretaps of suspected overseas terrorists. Foreign terrorists should not be permitted to hide behind the very same Constitution they simultaneously seek to destroy.

Taxes. Taxes should be no higher than what is required to pursue the necessary ends of government. The goal should be to raise the necessary revenue to pay for essential services from the lowest possible tax. Taxes are not meant to punish nor to achieve dubious social goals.

Immigration. The president I am looking for will be committed to building a sound immigration system that will secure the borders and maintain an orderly flow of legal immigrants into America. Once the borders are secured, solutions to other immigration issues will emerge.

Health care. Practical experience steers us away from further "nationalization" of our health care system. Medicare is America's largest insurer, and it is unintentionally shaping much of our health care system, thus creating and aggravating many of our problems. We need free market mechanisms, such as individual health savings accounts. Individuals and their medical professionals should be making health care decisions, not their employer, not the insurance company and certainly not the government.

On all issues, the president I am looking for will use limited government and free market mechanisms to focus on those things which only government can and should do.