He says no. But lots of people are discussing openly the possibility of the Democratic party nominating a non-politician for the office of President.
The underlying logic would be that the president needs to represent the people, but he/she doesn't need to be an expert on law, or war or economics or education. The president has (or at least should have) a staff and aides to provide analysis and expert opinions. The president meets with other foreign leaders with a major role in diplomacy, and needs to communicate effectively with Congress and the people.
Michael Moore was the first person I heard who advocated this change, speaking just a week after Donald Trump was elected:
Moore, speaking on CNN’s State of the Union show, said the leadership vacuum that will result from the departures of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would best be filled by a well-liked celebrity.A CNN article discusses the possibility of Oprah Winfrey campaigning for the presidency. There is also a relevant article in New Republic.
“Democrats would be better off if they ran Oprah [Winfrey] or Tom Hanks,” said Moore. “Why don’t we run beloved people? We have so many of them. The Republicans do this – they run [Ronald] Reagan and the Terminator [Arnold Schwarzenegger] and other people.”
Moore continued: “Why don’t we run somebody that the American people love and are really drawn to, and that are smart and have good politics and all that?”
Other celebrities who might consider running for political office (not necessarily for the presidency) include Will Smith, Roseanne Barr, Angelina Jolie, Kanye West, and Mark Zuckerberg.
"Traditionalists" who cringe at the thought of celebrities invading politics might do well to remember that (IIRC) one of the concepts of the Founding Fathers was that state and national legislators should be ordinary people who could put aside their hammers and plowshares and travel to the capitol to manage the country, then return to their work (although they themselves were elite aristocrats).
Photo credit Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, via.
I don't recognise the photo ... presumably Americans would.
ReplyDeleteIt's Forrest Gump. He's a real intellectual compared to our current president.
ReplyDeleteA give away Liberal actor, Tom Hanks, who wants to create victims who will vote for Democrats. I lived in Europe controlled by these "cute Hoors" and I don't want anything to do with them. President Trump will do very nicely, thank you.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sure. Having a guy with no political experience in the White House is a great idea. Oh, wait. The guy in there now has no political experience. How's that going for you?
ReplyDeleteActually much better than under his virtually equally as unqualified predecessor, at least according to every metric and quantifiable basis there is, such as stock gains, employment figures, business start-ups, construction starts and even polling about the general optimism of the populace and their confidence in the future. (See how this tit-for-tat silliness goes once started? Especially when engaged in by someone who appears to be of another nationality ["How's that going for you?].)
DeleteYes, we all fondly remember just how pumped the confidence, optimism and figures were of oh so many top dollar financial institutions under the fearless leadership of our last know nothing Republican figurehead! Perhaps, you'd like to take us down memory lane and remind us again of the wonderful, carefree days of 2007-2008...
DeleteSilliness indeed...
Right wingers are more easily swayed by fame than left wingers - because Conservatives make decisions based on their "gut feelings" even if they don't represent reality. Liberals tend to prefer intelligence, logic, and factual proof and so are harder to manipulate.
ReplyDeleteI would never vote for Tom Hanks because our President should be more than just a famous face. I would, in a heartbeat, vote for someone intelligent and articulate and sensible - e.g., Elizabeth Warren or Michelle Obama.
Yeah. That's why there were so many videos of celebrities plumping for Trump or other Republican candidates in the primaries and during the general election. And why so few celebrities have come out against Trump or have used their fame as a way to generate what they style "resistance" since the election.........oh........wait......uhhhhhh..........
DeleteWow, reading comprehension issues, huh? Go back and read what I wrote again. Slowly. I said nothing about celebrities stumping for candidates (although Trump's embarrassing handful of C-listers at his inauguration "celebration" shows exactly who was behind Trump.) I said that Conservatives tend to go with "gut feeling" which is why they can be so easily manipulated by even bad actors (e.g., Reagan and Trump.)
DeleteLiberals, on the other hand, tend to analyze the content of a candidate, their position on various issues, and their credibility. In other words, they fact-check and (gasp) use their brains.
Here are just a few examples of celebrities protesting Trump in the US:
http://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-protesting-president-trump-inauguration-2017-1/#meanwhile-shia-labeouf-launched-his-latest-art-project-an-anti-trump-live-stream-that-plans-to-run-for-four-years-called-he-will-not-divide-us-jaden-smith-showed-up-in-it-friday-10
http://www.dailywire.com/news/12613/which-celebrities-will-be-showing-protest-trump-aaron-bandler#exit-modal
And celebrities around the world:
http://ew.com/news/2017/01/21/celebrities-womens-march/
He is an stupid man surrounded by, and supported by, white supremacists, antisemites, misogynists, homophobes, and flat out evil people who are literally joyful about cutting things like Meals on Wheels, school lunch programs for poor children, and yanking covering and making health insurance out of reach for tens of millions.
If you can support those goals, I'm afraid you're the kind of person who will welcome fascism with open arms.
No more actors and celebrities. I want educated, devoted professionals. There needs to be actual qualifications for our highest offices.
ReplyDeleteRonald Reagan.
ReplyDeleteZhoen's point exactly
DeleteAnother damn actor.
DeleteI have to agree no more celebrities, including "stars" whether stage, screen, or other entertainment (such as professional athletes) -- if that's all they know. Fundamentally being photogenic and being able to "act" or "perform" to someone else's direction isn't really something I look for in a political leader.
ReplyDeleteNow, there are some people who have started off in those fields who have built up a solid reputation beyond that. Ronald Reagan, who was a union leader, a political organizer, and a state governor before running for President -- ok, that was more than "Death Valley Days". Others might be similar to Dr Dre (Founded Beats Electronics), and Paul Newman (deceased but successful with food companies), who started as performers in the entertainment industry, and parlayed that into much more, and might be worth considering. From the athletics side, you might include John Elway (restaurants and sporting franchises), Roger Staubach (Real Estate), and Venus Williams (clothing and interior design businesses).
I'm sure we can come up with other businesses -- there are several "stars" who are quietly building up business empires that I've heard of.
Fundamentally a "star" who spouts off about something they know nothing about and has no real experience in isn't worth listening too. And definitely not worth voting for. Seriously.. as an example, what's Tom Hanks done? He's basically raised money for several organizations by being the famous face on their ads. Has he managed an organization (business, civic or political) having to deal with real issues in making things happen? Had to actually deliver on his promises to customers or voters? He's an excellent actor. But as a political leader? hmmmm.....
Al Franken has done well. But he's a Senator, not president. Although, now that he's been a Senator so long, he would make a fine president. And he was less an actor than a comedian and satirist, with a speciality in politics. it's not where you start, but the path you take.
DeleteQualifications. They really do matter.
He was also a schoolmate of mine. I wouldn't mind seeing him as a candidate; he'd be a formidable opponent in debates.
Delete"Founding Fathers was that state and national legislators should be ordinary people who could put aside their hammers and plowshares and travel to the capitol to manage the country, then return to their work" Those elite aristocrats had the leisure to know their classics. They were referring, notably, to Lucius Quinctus Cincinnatus who in 458 BCE was called to Rome from retirement as a farrrrmer, gave the invading Aequi a drubbing and then went back to his plowing. Maybe the US should canvass closely in or near Cincinnati, OH for a similar leader. Better go quickly, they're slipping away: Neil Armstrong, Henry Heimlich, Arthur Sabin - all gone.
ReplyDeleteRutherford B. Hayes. Bob, Robert, and William Howard Taft...
DeleteTrump is a Billionaire because he made deals in Real Estate and ran a Real Estate empire. He was CEO of that empire. Tom Hanks is just a nice guy who made money for acting in movies. Oprah was a nice gal who made money hosting a TV show. Neither takes any risk. No risk = you don't lose. Without failure, you learn nothing how to grow a business nor lessons to run a country. Trump will have successes and failures. The difference is, Trump will learn from his failures and become more successful at the job because of it. Tom Hanks and Oprah have no such experience in business.
ReplyDeleteBasically you want someone who lost big...ie Trump's Atlantic City foray...and learned from it and then succeeded big time after that. You judge a person by what they do AFTER their loss. Did they claw back and succeed? Or fail? People want leaders who understand what to do after failure. Not ones that throw in the towel. That's American.
DeleteThe ancient Greeks had a system in which ordinary people were put in charge. Not celebrities, not the rich, not highly qualified experts, but randomly selected people. They called it "democracy". Why not give that a try?
ReplyDelete