The current stream of non-consciousness from mainstream media around the political campaigns is convincing me that I may be in training to join that freshly maligned group in our country now known as elitists. As a person who thinks of himself as a fundamental capitalist, I think that elitist sounds like a promotion.

As you’ve probably noticed, there has been a swarm of verbiage surrounding at least one political candidate on the subject of elitism. The truth is that anyone running for President representing one of the major political parties is most likely from the elite of America. Just look at the schools they’ve attended and catch a glimpse of their resumes. Missing from their backgrounds are diplomas from community colleges and eighteen months of on the job experience laying sewer pipe. High achievers tend to continue achieving highly and that is the talent pool I want the President or CEO to come from.

Webster’s defines elite “as people believed to be the best in a particular group or society.” Why is that made out to be a negative characteristic for a business or political leader? Do you want Larry the Cable Guy assessing your business plan or holding the nuclear missile launch codes? If there are people you want to feel comfortable having a beer with, hoist a brew with them and let the best do the rest.

The elite, like the rich are often given a fictitious bad rap and I suspect that is usually from slackers and people who don’t yet know enough about how economies operate and how wealth is created. You see, I believe that “the many” can learn a lot from “the few” that inhabit the elite club. Though I’m not a fan of the rampant avarice that has gripped Wall Street for years, I am very impressed by how the investment banks and hedge funds relentlessly recruit the smartest and best. Of course the scent of big money can be very persuasive!

As I write this in Los Angeles, the Milken Institute Global Conference is taking place in Beverly Hills. Leading representatives from the world's capital markets have gathered to discuss the latest regarding the turbulence in the global economy. It is an event I admire because it attracts a fairly diverse group of experts and decision-makers from the worlds of education, health care, energy and philanthropy.  They can be described as very smart and some would refer to them as the elite. In 2007 people such as film director Sydney Pollack, architect Frank Gehry, Andre Agassi, Michael J. Fox, Senator John Kerry and Ted Turner, among others had some pretty vigorous discussions on a wide range of topics. Would we as a country or business community be better off without people who can earn the reference, elite?

Having met hundreds of entrepreneurs in the course of producing the Making It! show I do have a thought or two on where they fit around the word elite. Small business pursuit and success is a great leveler. No social position, race or gender assures success or foretells failure. It really is about resourcefulness, determination and persistence. Borrowing a phrase from President Calvin Coolidge, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.” He went on to include talent, genius and formal education.

I admire people who rise above the fray based on those qualities and I want to nominate them for a lifetime membership in the elite club.