If you refer to someone as a paragon, you mean that they are perfect or have a lot of a good quality. We don't expect candidates to be paragons of virtue. someone who is perfect or is extremely brave, good etc - often used humorously paragon of (Early , from paragone , from paragonare , from parakonan )
[ 'par-&-"gän, -g&n ] (noun.) circa 1548. Middle French, from Old Italian paragone, literally, touchstone, from paragonare to test on a touchstone, from Greek parakonan to sharpen, from para- + akonE whetstone, from akE point; akin to Greek akmE point; more at EDGE.