A last-minute, virtually unknown conservative independent presidential candidate, Evan McMullin, declared his candidacy too late to be considered a credible candidate.  This is unfortunate, since he is a cut above the other candidates from either party.  However, he is weighed down by voter reaction to his religion: Mormonism.  And by his former profession: CIA operations officer.

Voters will immediately and wrongly assume that, like Mitt Romney, being a Mormon is religiously exotic, even bizarre (all that teetotaling, no music or dancing), hurting him in the eyes of the voting proletariat.  His earlier employment in the CIA’s clandestine service, with still classified operational details unavailable, also becomes fodder for the anti-secrecy malcontents, adding more opposition to his success.      

One thing needs to be said: being a Mormon with a background in the CIA means he has a realistic understanding of what America faces in the real world and is highly trustworthy, moral, and proper, which makes him one of the best qualified of any presidential candidate.  The former director of CIA, Gen. Michael Hayden, publicly verified McMullin’s 10-year CIA employment, which included service in the most dangerous Mideast cauldrons in which the CIA routinely operates.           

The CIA has a history of recruiting and hiring both Mormons and sons and daughters of missionaries who have lived and served abroad, for their language skills, area knowledge, and understanding of other cultures.  The Mormons I have known in the CIA were especially stable, trustworthy, patriotic, and technically competent.  The CIA’s Science and Technology Directorate has been successful with high-tech projects partly because of the exceptional talent of their scientists and engineers, many of whom happen to be Mormons.

While it is too late for such a qualified, trustworthy person to become a viable candidate in this election, it’s not too late for the voters nationwide to finally learn that there are competent, trustworthy, and intelligent candidates available for the next presidential election cycle, assuming that the nation can survive the next four years of the current choices before us.  It remains for our political parties to do their job – i.e., identify qualified candidates and present them early to voters with gusto, not passively sit back to enjoy the spectacle of competing stage-hogging, desperate self-promoters who rush forward to grab all the media attention as they declare their candidacies.           

This election reminds me of that famous Woody Allen quote:  

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.

Gene Poteat is a retired senior CIA scientific intelligence officer.