Of course they should. If somebody wants to run for high office, say anything above the level of dog catcher, he or she should have to show some kind of aptitude or skill relevant to the job. And I don’t mean fund raising ability, a degree in advanced hand shaking and baby kissing, or a highly cultivated skill at forming intimate relations with lobbyists. We must set the bar higher than that.I propose a multi-faceted approach. First, since there is no evidence that holding public office cures mental illness, candidates should be given a rigorous psychiatric evaluation and then rated. The evaluation would be conducted by a panel of psychiatrists chosen at random, who would be required to make a summary judgment: “not crazy,” “crazy,” or “crazy, but not enough to disqualify.” The rating could include informative comments such as “not considered a danger to self and others,” “suffers from political psychosis,” “not known to have run naked in the streets,” or “sex addict.”Second, candidates must prove they are not idiots. People who were idiots before running for office are not likely to experience remission from the condition while in office. Proof would require, first, a minimum passing grade on a new “National Political Boards Examination,” similar to medical board examinations administered to physicians looking for certification. Candidates must also obtain minimum scores on at least three tests chosen from a selection of intelligence and aptitude tests — Stanford-Binet, Miller Analogies, SAT, GRE, MCAT, LSAT, etc. Candidates would be required to offer such additional information as they can produce about their professional, family, and community activities in order to pass muster. The burden of proof is Napoleonic, i.e., on the candidate: idiotic until proven not idiotic. No brains, no public office!