2020 Election Season starts now....

[oportet]

Do we really have to start talking about this now? Didn't we just finish up? Don't we need a little bit of a break?

What do you think?

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!

No - it isn't nonsense Friday - this shit is real. The most electrifying man in sports entertainment has tossed his hat into the ring (kind of...).

Not many details at the moment though. He is a registered Republican - but with the incumbent party being Republican, maybe he'll go indy. Will this turn our political process into a circus? If you don't think it is already, it shouldn't be too hard to convince you the answer is no.

Obama may be the best speech-giver to be President, Trump may be the biggest celebrity to be President - but those titles will be short-lived if this works out.

Is there anyone - anyone at all - politician, celebrity, any household name, more well known AND liked than The Rock? Q scores are hard to come by - seems they don't actually release lists - I'm not entirely sure who 'they' even are - but he appears to be near, next to, or even above Tom Hanks and Peyton Manning at times.

Sure, it can't last - he'll have to pick sides on issues, guaranteeing around half the country loses a little respect for him, one issue at a time. If he makes it through the gauntlet - he'll likely drop from 'loved by everyone' to 'OMG literally Hitler', but for the time being - he's one of the frontrunners.

Comments

[nairiporter]

Pleasepleaseplease let Hulk Hogan run as his VP...

[mikeyxw]

Naw, the winner of the Royal Rumble in WrestleMania 34 will be designated as his running mate. I also predict that there will be some outside interference, robbing the true winner and causing the first major scandal of the 2020 election campaign.

[oportet]

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler can moderate the debates

[halialkers]

Eh, we've already had a chimpanzee's best co-star and a reality TV star who was the villain of a Back to the Future movie as President. Why not a pro wrestler?

[mahnmut]

Again, I present to your attention the wonderful case of one Lord Buckethead.
https://talkpolitics.dreamwidth.org/1897239.html

You guys have still so much more to learn.

[halialkers]

No argument there. :P

[policraticus]

You know what I would like to see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson do? Besides sign on for Toothfairy II, the Whitening?

Run for a minor office. Become a small to mid-sized city mayor, maybe. How about he relocate back to Bethlehem, PA, establish residency, then run for office there? There is a lot to be done in Bethlehem, a lot of opportunities to reinvigorate a town battered by generations of declining steel town fortunes. Let's see him succeed at that, not ontological perfection, let's just see him do some good, get reelected, keep some promises and leave Bethlehem a little bit better off than when he arrived. Then, let's see him become a Representative, or maybe the governor of Pennsylvania. Let's see him succeed at that.

Then we can talk "President The Rock." Or Toothfairy III: Live and Let Floss.

[oportet]

That sounds good - except 2020 is going to be THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION EVER!

Baby steps would probably make for a more well-rounded leader, then again...

Republicans love(d) Reagan, Democrats (seem to?) like Franken - and those two jumped right into major positions.

Ventura tried it the way you're suggesting - and the novelty of the celebrity politician wore off before his first term was up.

[policraticus]

To be fair to Reagan, he was a union boss and then a two term governor of California. He then ran for president, and lost the primary. Then he spent about a decade crafting what would become "Reaganism," before reentering the field in 1979. So, he spent a lot of time as a politician and as a political thinker before he became the president.

Franken entered the Senate as a real neophyte, but he appears to have worked diligently at his craft since then and earned a lot the respect he's received. But the Senate, for all its august trappings, isn't nearly as good a jumping off place to become an executive as a governor. Look at the sorry history of Senators who've become president. Barring a few exceptions, it is not an inspiring roster.

Better than Ventura, who was always something of a novelty act, the Rock should look to Clint Eastwood brief tenure as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

[telemann]

Trump Starts Raising Money for His 2020 Campaign (and His Company)
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/06/trump-reelection-fundraiser/531309/

"Do we really have to start talking about this now? Didn't we just finish up? Don't we need a little bit of a break?"

Precisely.