As an upon a time amateur artist, I enjoyed sketches immensely. Quick and incisive, a vision condensed, less prone to error than a detailed drawing. Sketches are a joy for an artist, and can be for any later connoisseur .

Although not directly related, political vision is usually more like a sketch of a goal than a map to get there. Whether the goal is “build a canal to lake Erie”, “build a railroad across the continent”, “go to the moon”, or “end poverty.” Even business leaders say generalities like ” improve profits” or “grow market share.”

Details, of course, are important. But at first nobody cares if the way to do it is with 8% state bonds or by reducing labor cost. The means of achieving a goal can often and should often be tweaked or abandoned. There is nothing worse than a means that has lost its purpose but meanders on like some expensive zombie ghost .

So those media calls for “specifics” in a political campaign are ridiculous and only applied for partisan reasons. We vote as we live, for a vision. That is not a failing and it is in fact the only reason things like democracy work .

The only realistic demand to make of potential leaders is to narrow the vision significantly. Not “make life better” but focus on the most salient goals, make them clearly defined. Only then can means be developed, results measured, and possible new approaches tried if necessary .