I have tried really hard to avoid commenting on politics and the presidential election. I think I'm the only syndicated columnist in the United States right now who hasn't weighed in on one side or the other, and believe me, I have tried to resist the temptation to do so as long as I could.

But the political atmosphere does impact the way in which people run their businesses. What the government does (or doesn't do) impacts all of us, and I'm sure that both leading candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, will be pitching for the small-business vote this fall. It will be interesting to hear what their advisors tell them small businesses want. Hopefully some of them have actually run their own business.

Rather than talk about specific policy choices (which really don't matter until an elected official actually goes to make them), I would like to hear the candidates talk more about America's long-term priorities.

These are some specific challenges I would like them to discuss:

Military Superiority. The world is a scarier place today than it was 50 years ago. Russia and China no longer espouse communism as an ideology, but these countries and their allies, such as North Korea, still pose the greatest dangers to world peace. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union, and China is hell-bent on building its military with the goal of challenging America for world leadership. Add certain militant Islamists to the mix and one thing is clear: America must maintain its military superiority at all costs.

Right now, America has the strongest, most technologically advanced military on Earth, but that won't continue as long as less than 1 percent of Americans are connected to the military. How can we beef up our defenses without reinstating the military draft?

Leadership in Technology. Over the past 50 years, America has given up its leadership in manufacturing, some say permanently, to Asia. The only hope of survival is to become the world's leading country for research and development, providing the technological innovations and cutting-edge intellectual property that manufacturing countries are not (at least for now) developing.

If Silicon Valley guru Marc Andreesen is correct that "software is eating the world," then America needs to focus all its energies on being the most innovative, entrepreneurial nation on Earth. Falling behind is not an option.

Education Reform. Our education system is a relic of America's agricultural past and needs to be completely rethought. Education must be year-round and considered a lifelong enterprise, not something Americans just do for the first 21 years of their lives.

Business, economics, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and other technology-driven subjects, such as coding, should drive the curriculum. Teachers should be paid better, given more respect as professionals and held more accountable for results. Career paths in education should be based on competition and measurable performance, not tenure or union membership.

Creation of Middle-Class Jobs Outside of Technology. Not everyone is meant to work in the STEM fields. As technology becomes more sophisticated and the need for skilled to highly skilled workers increases, we need to give some thought to creating well-paying private sector jobs (not low-level service jobs) for individuals without STEM backgrounds. If we don't, they will only have three options: get involved in government bureaucracies or the military, or be on the dole.

Renewable Energy and the Environment. Global warming is real and needs to be dealt with, but people don't want to give up smartphones, autonomous vehicles, drones and other technological marvels that use electricity like Dracula sucks blood.

Solar energy, wind energy and certain other sustainable energy sources won't be viable around the world for many years. We need to identify clean sources of energy that are available now and can bridge the gap until these sources become more viable, even if that means embracing nuclear power.

National Identity and Values System. One of America's greatest strengths has always been its ethnic diversity. But that diversity has always — until recently — been rooted in a common culture (based on a shared language, European heritage, Anglo-Saxon institutions and Judeo-Christian religious values), which many people feel is threatened by tidal waves of non-Western immigrants.

If America hopes to survive the next 50 years, the focus on "hyphenated Americans" must disappear. We need to focus less on the centrifugal forces in our society — the racial, ethnic, sexual, religious and other tribal identities that separate us from one another — and more on the centripetal forces, our common values that keep us working together despite our country's many imperfections. This should be the focus, even if we have to invent certain shared values from scratch.

As the Bible and President Abraham Lincoln remind us, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." And no country — now matter how open and flexible to change it is — can be everything to everyone. A country that stands for anything and everything ultimately stands for nothing. No one will fight or die for it.

Cliff Ennico ([email protected]) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series "Money Hunt." This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com.