When it comes to leadership, who decides who's fit?

I always laugh when politicians tell voters who is "fit to lead." It reminds me of a cat telling mice where they should hide.

The other week, John Kerry told us John Edwards, his new vice presidential candidate, was fit to lead+ even though earlier this year he criticized Edwards, saying the White House "was no place for on-the-job training."

Edwards, for his part, told groups of cheering fans that his new boss was fit to lead, even though a few months ago. Edwards was doing his best to knock Kerry out of the race.

President Bush, when asked to compare Edwards to his vice president, Dick Cheney, responded b) setting his jaw and quipping, "Dick Cheney can be president."

To which pundits immediately replied, "We thought Dick Cheney was president."

When it comes to the White House, who really knows what it takes to be a good president--let alone a good vice president? Bush's father once joked that the vice president was the man who got sent to funerals overseas. Yet people accuse the current vice president of creating funerals overseas.

The fact is, there is no formula for the White House. And the people running for that office should show enough respect to please, finally, stop trying to define it for us.

Does Bush really want to tell people that Edwards" one term as senator isn't enough to warrant a vice presidential nod? Bush himself had only five years in politics before he became president. Before that, Bush had been a failed businessman and a bit of a runabout.

Is that really the profile of a leader?

Conversely, too much experience doesn't seem to be a good thing, either. Cheney certainly put his time into public office. He served as defense secretary, White House chief of staff and Wyoming congressman. But his critics say his secrecy, cronyism and Cold War thinking is the kind of approach that needs to be expelled.

Too much experience? Or too little?

John Kerry has been in politics for a quarter of a century. What has that gotten him? Critics rifle through his voting record and pluck it apart, using his years on the job to define him as a hypocrite (as if none of us had ever changed our mind on anything in 25 years).

What about being "a man of the people"? Bush walks and talks like a Texas farmhand, but he's a rich kid from Yale. Kerry likes to tell you he plays hockey, but he's blue blood all the way. CHistory shows that there is no perfect footprint here. When Al Gore ran against him in 2000, George W. Bush claimed it was time for a change. With Kerry running against him, Bush says stick with experience. Kerry's rival is now his partner. Edwards' rival is now his boss. Cheney does too much. Edwards does too little.

And in the end, the November election will, as always, come down to this:

Who looks best on TV?

Mirth Albom is the author of the bestsellers "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and "Tuesdays With Morrie."