Keller @ Large: Every Candidate Should Address This Issue

BOSTON (CBS) - People often complain to me about presidential campaign coverage that focuses too heavily on personalities and poll numbers and not enough on serious issues. So I'd like to suggest an issue that every candidate should be challenged to address.

First, a quick story. In late 1979, I was working as a producer for the late, great David Brudnoy's evening talk show, and welcomed a prominent U.S. Senator who was running for president into our waiting room.

After chatting for a few minutes, he said: "You seem like a bright young fella, what do you think is the number one foreign policy problem we face?"

This was just a few weeks after the American hostages had been seized in Iran, a side-effect of the collapse of the U.S.-backed regime that had caught our government by surprise. So I said "maybe we need to beef up our intelligence-gathering capability around the world so we don't get caught with our pants down again."

He thanked me, and sat down for his interview.

Ten minutes later I heard him telling Brudnoy that the biggest foreign policy problem we face was our weak intelligence-gathering capability around the world.

And I thought to myself: "gee, if this guy wins, I could be the next Secretary of State!"

Luckily for everyone, that didn't happen. But the questions still stand.

Does North Korea have a hydrogen bomb or don't they? And 37 years later, a familiar question: what is going on with Iran?

We need answers. I'm not confident that we're getting them.

And inquiring minds should be asking: what are the candidates for president going to do about that?

Listen to Jon's commentary: