Would you run for President?

[lawrocket 3]

Hypothetical situation:

Due to events, polling data 18 months prior to the presidential election suggests that you would make a strong showing, and perhaps even win, the next presidential if the electionwas held today.

You have received numerous phone calls from supporters and others who would be willing to assist you with the financing and runnign of your presidential campaign, including lawyers, pollsters and strategists who have already begun to form an exploratory committee.

Assuming this is the case:

Would you announce yourself as a candidate for the Presidency? Or would you decline the opportunity to be POTUS?

I wouldn't. I would wnat nothing to do with it. Frankly, I like my life, and I like my family. The last thing I'd want to do is go on tour and subject myself and my family to the crap.

Now, would I take a job with an administration? Possibly. I have always rather enjoyed being the "behind the scenes" guy.

Edited to add: My thoughts are, "What kind of crazy mo-fo would be interested in actually runnign for POTUS?"

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[BillyVance 35]

I wouldn't either. Too much bullshit and dirt-digging done by critics... And I hate politics.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[FreeflyChile 0]

Well, I can't because I wasn't born here.

Assuming I could, absolutely I would.

With your hypothetical, I am assuming that funding is not a problem and so I wouldn't have to make the behind-the-scenes deals with interest groups or any kind of party lines, so if nothing else I would be given the freedom (which no candidate has) to only have to answer to the country at large for my decisions and policies.

Besides, as much as I hate how things are run, and as much as I contribute to complaining about things, it'd be hypocritical for me to not to take a stab at it if given the chance.

[Shotgun 1]

No. I would go nuts not having any privacy. And I'm sure the press would have a field day digging up stuff from my past.

[Hausse 0]

Assuming I could (I'm foreign) I still wouldn't. Trying to make a bunch of weirdos happy that only want tax cuts and cheap gas just doesn't seem to be very satisfying

[Para_Frog 1]

Sure!

But I'd be upfront about the hookers, the blow, and that one thing with that poor lamb and the champagne bottle.

If they'd still have me, what the hell.

- Harvey, BASE 1232
TAN-I, IAD-I, S&TA

BLiNC Magazine Team Member

[kelpdiver 2]

I'd rather Gerald Ford my way in.

As long as google exists, my campaign would be killed rather quickly as every political statement I've made since 1990 would become available. Lots of material to partially quote.

[PLFXpert 0]

While it's clear I would make an awesome president , I would decline--much for the same reason I never pursued other things; I value my privacy.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[Nightingale 0]

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"What kind of crazy mo-fo would be interested in actually runnign for POTUS?"

Me.

[lawrocket 3]

Please, counsel, explain your insanity.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Nightingale 0]

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Please, counsel, explain your insanity.

Because the Constitution is important to me, and I'd like to see someone in office who has read it, respects it, and won't try to find sneaky ways around it.

[jcd11235 0]

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I would wnat nothing to do with it. Frankly, I like my life, and I like my family. The last thing I'd want to do is go on tour and subject myself and my family to the crap.
…
My thoughts are, "What kind of crazy mo-fo would be interested in actually runnign for POTUS?"

I absolutely agree. POTUS is the last job I'd ever want. I'd rather be making minimum wage at a crappy job, living out of my car due to an inability to make enough money to pay rent anywhere. Which is precisely why, given the circumstances of your hypothetical situation, I would run. Anyone who actually wants that job has absolutely no business in the Oval Office. It should be viewed as a 4-8 year (5-9 or more if you count the campaign) stint as a slave, not a job promotion.

Still, I hope those phone calls never come, and given the plethora of people far better suited for the job, it's a safe assumption that they never will.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[shropshire 0]

Fucking right.... it's great for the bank balance

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[nerdgirl 0]

No.

Advise, yes.

VR/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

[skydyvr 0]

President: No

Dictator for a week: Yes

. . =(_8^(1)

[vortexring 0]

I'd have to ask myself; what could I bring to the people I'm trying to represent? What could my competitors bring to the people that I can't?

If it's the case that I'm genuinely able to provide significantly more than their able to; I would.

Then I'd ban private arms just to piss off: JohnRich, Rushmc, Mealtx, and my good friend, Randal the Vandal to name a few. :)

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[vortexring 0]

I'd sack the rice lady for you instantaneously. Basics.

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[Tink1717 2]

No, it is far better to have the ear of power than to have power itself.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[Amazon 7]

Nope... I like travelling and meeting new Cabana Boys.... and the hours the POTUS has to work are attrocious.

[Gawain 0]

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"What kind of crazy mo-fo would be interested in actually runnign for POTUS?"

Me. I don't know if the opportunity will ever present itself, but I am going to tip my hat into the political arena sometime after the Army. How high it goes...haven't thought it through.

All politics is local. If you can make a difference there, you can then instill the desire for others to make a difference from a national position.

It can begin with willingness and ability to show up and do the "work".

A couple good ideas to get the fire burning...

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[kelpdiver 2]

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Then I'd ban private arms just to piss off: JohnRich, Rushmc, Mealtx, and my good friend, Randal the Vandal to name a few. :)

I'd change the tax rebate to a defender shotgun, or handguns from Colt, Springfield and other US makers. (Though I prefer Sig, US only for this one).

Just to piss off the Brits. (and rapists)

[vortexring 0]

Ah, you're being boring again man, get head first into the Sargasso mate.

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[lawrocket 3]

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Please, counsel, explain your insanity.

Because the Constitution is important to me, and I'd like to see someone in office who has read it, respects it, and won't try to find sneaky ways around it.

The worst attacks on the Constitution are by those who have read it, understand it, and find the sneaky ways around it. Yes, by lawyers.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[happythoughts 0]

President, no. For the reasons that Colin Powell gave.
It is just putting yourself and your family through years of microscopic scrutiny. Plus, no matter what you do, the other side will try to abuse you. Not worth it.

(Plus, short-term good behavior is difficult for me.
I asked told a CIA recruiter at the college, "Ummm... it takes 10 months for the security clearance investigation? Oh.")

Vice-President. Goes to luncheons, has own jet, no one has ever assassinated the VP. Better than Pres.

Party tool. Gets taken to strip clubs by lobbyists.
Graft, corruption, big cash, hookers, vacations.
Much more in line with my experience.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Vice-President. Goes to luncheons, has own jet, no one has ever assassinated the VP. Better than Pres.

VP can't make 10s of millions a year on the speaker circuit.