Government impacting Leadership in today's world

I think one great example of how the government impacts leadership are the Presidential elections. This topic is all over the news! We see how candidates give speeches to gain support all over. The candidates also bash one another and try to damage each others campaigns. The press seems to support the bashing by digging into the personal lives of these candidates. I think these election campaigns are a poor example of leadership. These candidates should be showing that they would be strong leaders, but instead they waste their time bashing one another. As a leader, this would be a sign of weakness!