Libertarian Librarian

• the candidate must have name recognition, and personal charisma.
• the person should (ideally) have some connection to politics as they will otherwise run into the difficulties Ventura and Schwarzenegger experienced with the political establishment not wanting to work with them despite the public's clear desire that they do so. It's one thing to get elected, it's another to actually be able to govern.
• the candidate's basic political positions are fiscally conservative and socially moderate to liberal.
• the candidate must SEEM viable (which is why I don't think Howard Stern will work).

There are six million hurdles to this thing, and I'm just pie-in-the-skying here, but one of the biggest will be finding someone that A) will appeal to enough people and B) will be seen as credible enough for folks to actually vote for. Personally, I think Obama, McCain, Rice and Feingold are out-- they are too invested in the current structure (with at least two of them, and maybe three or all four) having presidential aspirations thorugh the normal channels either in '08 or '12. I'm also more and more of the opinion that anybody that actually wants to be President is automatically a poor choice to fill the position.

Our candidate needs to be an outsider, yet have the political chops to get some respect from the get go, and then, hopefully, earn more over time. Tricky. Here's a short list to mull over (and, yes, I'm half serious about this-- maybe more than half serious. Politics as usual ain't gettin' it done boys and girls, and this funky new medium known as digital communication CAN be the great equalizer. Grass roots only works as well as the communiation apparatus-- but the internet, IM, email, cell phones all make communication with people all over the country easy and affordable as in no other time in history.):

• Dennis Miller. Personally, my top choice right now. Right of center at the moment, he used to be on the other side of the aisle, and he fits the socially liberal/fiscally conservative model. He has name recognition, doesn't pull his punches, and has been doing political commentary and analysis for quite some time, giving him at least some "cred" with Washington.
• Clint Eastwood. If he wasn't 112 years old, he'd probably be my top choice. He's libertarian in his leanings, socially moderate, and has been mayor so he has some executive office credibility. Name recognition would certainly not be a problem, and he also does not pull his punches.
• Stern. I think he is too controversial to actually inspire the huddled masses the way we need them inspired, and I also think he would inspire the Religious Right base of the Republicans in a way few other figures could manage.
• Kelsey Grammar. I know he's to the right of most of Hollywood, but that could still leave him to the left of the majority of the rest of the country. Don't actually know a whole lot about his politics, but anybody that can succeed in Hollywood despite having conservative leanings must have something going on that would play well in politics.
• Paul Tagliabue. Obviously a great manager, he also seems to have a pretty good feel for public relations, and has worked with Congress on a variety of issues while Commissioner of the NFL. He does not have a lot of personal charisma, which may be a deal breaker. On the flip side, you just made it tempting for the NFL viewing demographic (which ain't small potatos folks) to jump ship from the two major parties to us.
• Bob Uecker. Okay, maybe not, but wouldn't you just love to hear him veto a bill from Congress and then say, "Get up, get outta here, GONE!"?

That's all I can think of right now, but there are certainly others. Bear in mind-- we will not find someone that appeals universally to everyone. Not possible, as the various discussions here clearly illustrate. We can find someone who everyone (well, maybe not Greg, but that's okay) feels is better than the hacks and halfwits we've been electing to political power. I think if we could take Kelsey Grammar's charisma and blend it with Paul Tagliabue's skills we'd have our guy, but barring a tremendous breakthrough in cloning or stem cell transplants, something close to that will have to be the goal.

This is America folks. We're not a democracy, but we are a republic, and we should have a larger, more influential voice in who we think should be running our country. Was it over when the Nazis bombed Pearl Harbor? NO!!

So, get those creative little brains chewing on this thing, and let's see what we can come up with. At worst, it'll be an interesting and, hopefully, entertaining thought experiment. At best, who knows, maybe we get enough people interested to start something. Maybe something big. Doesn't hurt to try.

Labels: Politics

Posted by: Nick W. / 12:34 PM