No triangulating poll

Which do you want?

I really wanted to understand what the people think the Presidents role is: follow the people or follow his/her best decision process

I want a president who does what I want.

"History has tried to teach us that we can't have good government under politicians. Now, to go and stick one at the very head of government couldn’t be wise." - Mark Twain

I rather like it

The president should do what he/she thinks is right. There's no time for a poll or plebescite on every urgent, unpredicted (often unpredictable) event in a presidency.

An ancestor of mine, Edmund Burke, gave a speech "To the Electors (i.e. voters) of Bristol" in 1774, in which he outlined what an elected official owes to the people who elected him...

"...it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion, high respect; their business, unremitted attention… But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living… Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion."

In other words - do not govern by polls.

pretty evenly divided on the topic.

I think there is a true dichotomy in what we want from a President.
Until we acknowledge that no President can satisfy our competing desires for him/her to represent our desires and to do what is best, we're not really admitting what the Presidency is or should be.

I haven't voted, but I'm on the side of the 'do as the people want'. I realize that sometimes the people want the wrong things.

1. Which people????

...Only the members of the party that the president ran on? ...The majority of Americans? ...Only those who voted? ...Only those of voting age? ...Only those who voted for him/her?

Since most presidents are elected by something like 51-49 or closer, and people's opinions change quickly, it is impractical to follow what the 'people' want. Following polls to make decisions is awful government, IMO.

2. Most IMPORTANT issues are unpredicted, and are probably unpredictable.

There is no way to know what the 'people' (whoever group they end up being) want regarding issues like 9/11, Darfur, Iraq invasion of Kuwait, kidnapping of the U.S. embassy employees in Iran, etc.

and thats why it's a dichotomy.

And we are terribly inconsistent in our judgment.

The poster above you responded neither - he wanted a President that does what he (the individual poster) wants is probably the most accurate. We want the President to make decisions we are comfortable with. If he agrees with us, great; if he disagrees with us, we want him to follow us.

As you see above, most responders wanted a President that does what the people want.
There are always surprises, but most of what we want is not dealing with the surprises.
Iraq did not happen overnight
Darfur is likewise not an overnight phenomenon
Kidnappings are predictable (not exactly where/who but that there will be attempts)
Oil prices are not unpredictable
The fact that people are hurting in an extremely bad way in todays economy is not unpredictable
The fact that the national debt will impede many things we need to do is not unpredictable
The fact that there will be disasters (either natural or manmade) is not unpredictable

Under Bush I've seen what an autonomous Presidency is, and it is far more terrible than a poll-driven Presidency.

The President is our elected official. He is neither our owner, nor our boss.

At least one poster wrote exactly that.

On the other hand, those who really want an elected official to do the 'popular' thing seem to ignore the fact that that is often not the 'right' thing to do, and certainly is not the 'consistent' thing to do.

it is just not that straightforward. Many choices are not right v wrong: they are gray on gray.

I will vote for the candidate I trust to make the tough, difficult decisions that every president faces. The choice of president for me has A LOT LESS to do with policies, and EVERYTHING to do with trust in his or her wisdom, judgment, maturity and experience to react well to those unexpected challenges to his/her administration.

I want a president who will do the right thing. What their motivation for doing so is doesn't matter much.

I suspect that Adolf Hitler fit into both the categories offered in the poll.

people here are happy with that.

Fuck that. Fuck her.