What criteria are important in selecting leaders

As most of you likely realize, I live in Georgia. We are in the midst of a contentious election for governor which has made it on to the national stage. I am not at all happy about by choices. On the Republican side we have Brian Kemp, who out-maneuvered current Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle for the nomination by out-Trumping him. Don't get me wrong, I was no Casey Cagle fan and I suspect I would be in the same boat if Brian Kemp had lost the primary. However, Kemp prevailed because he sent a xenophobic and gun and chain saw worshiping message to the voters and connected with their inner reptiles. It was simply mean-spirited.

 Just to give him a fair shake, I visited him website. It did not instill any confidence.  It is filled with platitudes but there is little content. He wants to "take a chainsaw" to state regulations. I am all for limited government but there are NO specifics on how this portion of his platform will be implemented. He makes a strong appeal to rural Georgia which I sense is reaching back to the past.

Then there is the Democrat candidate Stacy Abrams. In contrast to Brian Kemp, her website is rich with content describing her proposed agenda. I agree with her on her social agenda and have my disagreements with her on fiscal policy. The cloud that hangs over her is one relating to her personal finances, which she has been completely transparent about. She has over $50K of deferred Federal Taxes and It has been reported and commented on by both state and national press including the New York Times. Today there was an OpEd piece which commented on the Kemp attacks:

This line of attack throws a pernicious political dynamic into high relief. The financial problems of poor and middle-class people are treated as moral failings, while rich people’s debt is either ignored or spun as a sign of intrepid entrepreneurialism.

Reading interviews of Ms. Abrams fill in details which point to her use of financial options available to her to meet the needs of her family, shedding a more positive light on her particular circumstances.  She took on the role of saving her extended family from financial calamity after the convergence of a host of factors. Ms. Abrams is clearly a financial risk taker, which has it upsides and downsides. She is not afraid of personal debt.

I still have to ask the question as to whether it is appropriate for voters to be skeptical of an individual's ability to make good decisions regarding state government finances when they have made perhaps poor decisions with their own? The Times clearly thinks this to be inappropriate. I think it is reasonable to ask what they have learned from their experiences. Ms. Abrams accrued heavy debt to finance her education and has continued to use debt to further her career. She does not regret doing this and does not believe it to be a mistake, yet. Does that approach to debt translate into how she will govern? No matter who she is and where she came from, this is a legitimate question to ask.