Will the President Defend the Constitution?

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." That's the oath of office for the President of the United States. Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So how come the presidential candidates don't discuss the Constitution more? Their job is to protect and preserve the Constitution. Towards that end, they are assigned the position of Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, they have the power to make treaties (with Senatorial approval) with foreign entities, appoint ambassadors to represent the United States, and appoint Supreme Court Justices.

Essentially, the scope of the office of President of the United States is to ensure that the Constitution is upheld and not infringed upon. Do the candidates even know this? Most of them talk about all the things that they are going to do and how they are going to make the country better for everyone. They talk about health care, immigration, war, and what they are going to do about these things, but that's not their job! Legislation is the job of Congress. The Presidents job is to make certain that laws passed by Congress are properly executed. They are empowered to appoint officials to aid in this. They also have to sign and authorize the laws that Congress passes. That allows them to review the laws and make sure that they do nothing to endanger the Constitution.

Shouldn't the candidates be spending their campaigns enlightening us as to their knowledge of and dedication to the Constitution? Shouldn't they be offering their interpretation of every article and amendment to the Constitution? Should we not choose a President whose position on the articles and amendments most closely matches our own? Are the candidates afraid to tell us their positions? Do they even have positions? What do our candidates even know about the Constitution?

The article of the Constitution establishing the office of President does contain the following clause: “He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient” and it seems that this minor allowance is what all of the candidates have gravitated towards. The President is allowed to make suggestions to Congress about things they should consider “from time to time”. Presumably, these suggestions would be in the specific interest of defending the Constitution and would be matters that Congress was not already considering. It seems unlikely to me that in this day and age, there are many things that have escaped our legislators notice, so these suggestions shouldn't occur too often should they?

I'm tired of the rhetoric and the fluff. The things I'd like to know about each candidate are how they interpret each article and amendment of the Constitution, how they are qualified to lead the military, how they intend to treat with foreign powers, and what if any measures not already under consideration by Congress they feel need to be addressed in an expedient manner. The should also inform us of any Constitutional Amendments that they support. Everything else can be left to the Senatorial and Congressional candidates.

We continue to elect presidents who fail to deliver on their promises and many of us continue to be disappointed in them. The reason is simple: they're making promises of things outside the scope of their job responsibilities. It's like the pizza delivery driver promising to put more cheese on the pizza next time. The driver may want more cheese and they may recommend it to those who make the pizza, but ultimately it's not in their power to make it happen. If the candidates want to make laws and enact changes, they should run for Congress, if they want to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution then they should start telling us how they'll do it.