Give the partisans nothing! But take from them everything! Partisanship, Who Needs It? Wednesday, January 25, 2012. The Case for Mitt Romney. On another thread in The Rise of the Center I listed the criteria that I look for in a Presidential candidate in the comments section, I listed my 4 criteria and will use those criteria for my comparison here. 1 Obeys the US Constitution. 2 Actually be able to lead. But did Obama at least get the economy going in the right direction? 3 Putting the country first.