George Clooney.

American people like actors to lead them, and presidents mostly just act anyway.

US President automatically becomes celebrity, so you might as well pick someone who knows how to handle it.

Most important skill in any president: must be media savvy. Clooney would know how anything would play in Peoria.

Any women he screwed in White House would make America proud. No fat women, no unknowns.

He would get US out of Iraq.

He would inspire people, mostly by hiring really good speech writers.

He would make US feel virile even without having to invade any place.

He would hire most competent and best known people for every job, since he would expect them to do everything for him.

I like liberals.

He's a natural leader, obviously intelligent, relatively nice to look at and no one has any idea what his politics are. I think this is an absolutely fantastic idea and The Terminator has shown that former celebs (who have at least a modicum of intelligence) make decent politicos precisely because of their lack of related experience. He's forced to cross the aisle and forge new alliances because he didn't have the usual strings attached coming in. I disagree with a lot of what The Guvna has done but there's something refreshing about the "I've never experienced this before" approach he takes. By the time he gets to the White House in 2012, he'll have too many attachments and this will have worn off. But in the mean time, it's as close to putting a "Regular Joe" in office as you can get. Back to Montana, he comes off as soft spoken and diplomatic but you know he's gotta be able to put the hammer down when he needs to. Who could beat a "Regular Joe" for President campaign?

It is easy to buy small plaster models of what you think life is like.

I am among the fans of Mayor Bloomberg, and would cheerfully vote for him if he chose to run against Senator Hillary Clinton--mind you, I'm not particularly enthralled with the other two remaining candidates, but since I doubt Mayor Bloomberg would enter a race against Senator Obama or Senator Edwards, I haven't really thought about favoring him over them. Here are some constitutionally-eligible and (in my opinion) qualified candidates for you---all completely non-electable in today's media ethos.

George Herbert Walker Bush. Hey, he's still allowed one more term, and I suppose his presidency will hold up against the record of his "historical" peers (Nixon through present) Cons: He's old, his name is George Bush, and he helped elevate the careers of many of the folks currently reviled within this administration.

John Roberts. There is nothing in the Constitution preventing a sitting United States Chief Justice from throwing down the gauntlet and running for president. This idea has been explored, but alas, this is the best link I could come up with. Pros: He's pretty young, telegenic, and (for conservatives) is pretty sure to have a hand in some coming Supreme Court victories for the right. Cons: his hand in those victories for the right will be spun as being politically partisan instead of impartial and judicious.

Bill Gates: Pros: Knows business, international relations, and humanitarian concerns. Cons: associated with evil. Widely reviled even by people who aren't sure why they hate him.

Rob Reich: Pros: pretty good and politically astute Secretary of Labor in 1st Clinton term. Cons: hasn't done well in limited attempts at electoral politics. Also, he's very short. Short guys get made fun of. At least Zombie James Madison is waiting in hell for every short joke wags and pundits crack.

Frances Wilson. Pros: High ranking Marine with an impressive resume. authorized to jump out of planes. A seemingly formidable candidate based on accolades. Cons: I'm not positive that the current US political climate would be warm to a serving officer standing for a partisan office--she would be forced to answer hot button social questions which would instantly alienate a large portion of her potential electorate, no matter which way she leaned. I also think the American appetite for a military president is on a downswing--Powell and Schwarzkopf had 15 minutes of presidential-material fame, but I'm not sure that any of the new officers are that beloved--Petraeus maybe, if he tidies up Iraq, but Casey and Abizaid don't seem like they would charm the electorate. I'm sure I'm forgetting some other notable officers who get C-span face time, so if anyone else can think of an active duty officer who would make a dashing candidate, let me know.

Dennis Kucin--oh wait, nevermind.

Tiger Woods. Isn't that what is happening already? Pros: hottest 1st lady* since Angelica Singleton Van Buren. Cons: would lose popular votes from hippies due to his failure to stop child slavery in all its forms.

*fun fact--one does not have to be married to the president to be the First Lady. Has anyone considered that Hillary could conceivably appoint Chelsea instead of Bill as the official hostess for events at the White House?

and high and low, across every ban and every borough, the answer was blindingly obvious: ME.

     What? It worked for Dick Cheney.

Ex ignorantia ad sapientiam; e luce ad tenebras

Al Gore

'nuff said.

A recent survey revealed over 86% of Americans would, given the chance, vote 'None of the above' in the upcomin election

I maintain that this explains the bizarre Fred Thompson campaign.  Fred Thompson was at his highest in the polls, it seems, before he entered the race.  At that point, he was "none of the above."  Saying you wanted to vote for him was a way of expressing disappointment with the Republicans in the field.  Once Thompson made the crucial error of actually announcing he was a candidate, it all went to pieces for him.

A CEO. It's curious how our society is arranged in a way that CEOs aren't in the mix for the Presidency, even though Ross Perot did quite well despite being insane, and even though running a large multinational corporation would seem to provide a much better background than, say, being governor of Arkansas or a Senator.

Judge Richard Posner. He's unelectable on the grounds of being a bald man who seems to have Aspergers syndrome, but he is an interesting, perceptive thinker. he's knowledgable on a wide variety of subjects and he's able to entertain and evaluate others opinions. As judge he doesn't abuse his power.

Lieutenant Colonel John Nagl. He's young, smart (Doctorate in Philosophy from Oxford, helped write the Army's counterinsurgency manual), and he can drive a tank (he led a tank batallion in Operation Desert Storm and was operations officer of a tank battalion task force in Operation Iraqi Freedom). How cool would that be if the President drove himself around in tank? Say we decided to crush Toronto with tanks - he could lead the charge himself.

I'd like Paul Tsongas.*

Or how about Howard Dean?

Or maybe even Jack Kemp?

I swear these caucuses and primaries are solely meant to weed out the best candidates.

*Yes, yes. He's dead now.

- derumi (del-me)
"Bobby Fischer? Man, that guy is crazy!" - Mike Tyson

Oh well, my favorite candidate, Dennis Kucinich, just gave up the ghost.  It would have been fun if he'd gotten to run against Ron Paul.  The rest of the candidates are far less interesting.

there's only one way to find out...

"I'm talking getting behind the candidacy of Oprah Winfrey!  You go girlfriend!!!"

Ewww.  MayorBob, I know your joking, but the mere thought of that makes me want to puke.  Who would she nominate for cabinet positions?  Dr. Phil?  Dr. Oz?  Gail King?  

Yes, Okra has built quite an empire and lots of money off of the mentally-challenged people (me being one of them on occasion) who watch her show, but the thought of her running for prez is going to give me nightmares.  

there's only one way to find out...

I'm dissapointed none of you nominated Chomsky.

That's Symbionese Liberation Army, which kidnapped Patty Hearst and turned her into a revolutionary bank robber.  They definitely were not what you could call "party people."  Hearst would later go on to reconcile with her filthy rich daddy and marry a former FBI agent.  Oddly enough, I just happened to watch a John Waters movie "Cry Baby" and Patty Hearst had a part as a morally (and likely sexually) repressed parent.  The movie is definitely worth a rental from Netflix or the local video store.

Oh, that's right, Steve wanted to know who we thought would make a better president than the current crop vying for the job.  I'm sooooo sick and fucking tired of the whole Obama/Hillary thing.  You can't criticize Obama without being labelled a racist and you can't criticize Hillary without getting slammed as sexist.  My solution to this is to do a mash up of the two issues and support someone whom everyone loves, runs a tight ship at her business, and gives away lovely parting gifts.  I'm talking getting behind the candidacy of Oprah Winfrey!  You go girlfriend!!!

Illegitimi non carborundum.

I'd like to see someone with an economics degree run for president. To that extent, I'd like to see David Walker (currently head of the GAO) in charge. Alternatively I'd settle for one of our better Treasury secretaries -- Robert Rubin or Larry Summers.

Memory is a strange bell, jubilee and knell.