Some 40 years ago, America made a pledge to coal miners to protect them from the dangers from coal mining, chief among them black lung disease. In 1969, a major law was passed, regulators were hired, and monitoring began – except it appears it was all a massive masquerade. This is the kind of mess in public life people want cleaned up.

Where, oh where has the presidential campaign gone in recent weeks, other than into the gutter? To get the discourse on a better trajectory, here’s a simple step for the candidates and their campaigns: over the next week, offer the American people a cogent thought about why they are running and a proposal or idea that helps shed light on where they want the nation to go.