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Michael Smerconish shares Father's Day advice

By Michael SmerconishFollow @smerconish Let me finish tonight with this: Sunday is Father's Day.

By Michael SmerconishFollow @smerconish 

Let me finish tonight with this: Sunday is Father's Day. We've all received good advice from dear old Dad, sometimes the sort of counsel that stays in our head long after our fathers have passed.   

It occurs to me that some of those timeless nuggets would be good advice for our politicians, including our presidential aspirants. So today on the radio I asked my audience what advice they've gotten from their own fathers that they'd like to pass on to President Obama and Governor Romney. 

I heard some good stuff:


Wendy from Michigan said she hopes whoever is president understands her father's advice: you're not going to like every job you have, but a job worth having is worth doing well — which she said meant sometimes being the president is thankless, but you still have to do your best in every aspect of it.

Phil in Massachusetts said his dad told him: your last suit will have no pockets — meaning you're going to leave office as you came in, so be sure to act in a manner that you can hold your head high.  

Tony in Indianapolis said nothing good happens after 11, which he said should mean that politicians not wait until the eleventh hour to take care of people's business. Or it might mean beware of those fundraising schmooze fests or big donor shindigs. They don't resonate well when people are worried about their next paycheck.

Via Twitter, I received great responses from people like Peg, who tweeted: "God gave you two ears and one mouth so that you would listen twice as much as you speak." I think that applies to Republicans and Democrats equally.  

Kevin told me remember what all dads say: there's a "time and a place for everything." I think that has a message as to timing and and perhaps knowing when it's your turn to run for office.

A friend told me: "Praise in public, criticize in private." Translated into political speak, that could mean that how you treat your staff, your family, the voters, the media is critical. Every word, every gaffe, every look will be analyzed in this 24/7 news cycle.

And a producer of mine said his dad told him: "If your friends jump off a bridge, you don't have to." How about if your fellow candidates are all raising their hand against a 10:1 ratio of spending cuts to tax hikes...you don't have to!

Finally from Walt Smerconish: my own father's parenting advice is to always "be firm, fair and consistent." That's a great message to keep in mind when it comes to every aspect of being president.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!