Who would make a Great President?
 

Putting party affiliations aside for a moment :eek: , based solely on the person, who do you think would make a great President and why?

Time and circumstances play a larger role in greatness than anything else.

Somebody who is already held in high regard would lose that regard by becoming president because it wouldn't be more than 100 days before the long knives would start the Death By 1,000 cuts.

If The current president had cleverly gotten himself assassinated by some freaking nutty Islamist in 2002, people would be erecting shrines to him.

Remember his poll numbers?

B

What a great idea for a thread! :)

So many names come to mind here. Howard Dean (based on what he did as Gov. as the reason).

I always thought Bill Gates would be interesting (must be great at delegating and selecting delegates to get as big as he did.)

Old School... Warren Buffet, the guy has about 20 employees (or some silly low number) and is a genius.

People who get things done. The catch is they have to be able to get elected without using their pile of money. They need to get elected based on their merit. Unlike this Corzine guy that we NJ people are strapped with now.

I gotta say. NJ was usually a Dem. State. I think after Corzine finsihes with us, the Bush Lovers in the crowd are going to love NJ... we'll be Rep. for sure. This guy is going to really do a number on NJ.

Oh well. Didn't mean to hijack.

I believe I'll take over, on one condition... My limo damn well better be a MB.

Frank X. Morris.

He's always polite and positive and doesn't get mired down in the political discussions and he drive an MB diesel - that shows great amounts of wisdom.

Who would make a Great President?
 

Anybody as long as it isn't another Bush.

John McCain hands down. Not the best fit for me idealogically but IMO the best for the country. No one comes close.

I'd vote for his nephew.:D

Anyone smart enough to be a good president is too smart to actually be one.

quite right.

Though quite unfortunate for us.

Sam Nunn
 

Former Georgia senator, moderate Democrat, fiscally moderate and on the Armed Forces committee... always seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. But he really dropped out of sight upon leaving Capitol Hill- don't see him mentioned in the Atlanta paper at all these days.

I vote for Michael Brown:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/03/brown.fema.emails/

Danny

Pat Robertson

Can we nominate dead people?
 

. . . If so, I put up the name of Robert A. Heinlein. Dean of science fiction writers (he was SF's answer to Mark Twain), homespun philosopher (see quote below), and icon of libertarianism (though the Libertarian people claimed him; he didn't really claim them).

If dead people don't count, then anybody who isn't Hillary Clinton or similar feminazi ideologue/demagogue.

-- Paul

*****
Andy Libby: "It's theoretically possible to teach anybody my talent [at instant mathematical calculation].
Lazarus Long: "Sure. And you can teach a snake to tap dance, once you get shoes on him."
(-- "Methuselah's Children")

Unless you have the legislative branch on your side, you really can't enact much reform during a 4-year term.

The cabinet members surrounding the president do the REAL legwork. The individual just needs to have universal public appeal...

If we're going with SciFi writers how about one that is living - Jerry Pournelle.

Jack Bauer said President Palmer would be a fine candidate. Too bad he's dead :(

Botnst will be my write in, Since I know his real name and all, ain't that right Mortimer?

Go ahead and use my name and tell them about my sex change, I don't care.

Just don't tell them I'm for a flat tax, no taxes on business and zero deductions. If you let that out I'll never get elected.

If he were a US citizen I'd go for Sir Richard Branson. He seems to have a knack for finding very capable people to help him run things.

I know B would appoint me to a real fancy position.

Like one from the Karmasutra?:D

Putting aside the disturbing thought of MM and B in a Brokeback administration, I'm going to go with Gary Hart, McCain, and Howard Dean.

And hence I would like to nominate Michael Moore. I'd love to see that fat bastard squirm and have someone else write a Farenheit movie about him.

Seriously, that is what I have been saying all along.

But that is just it. You never will have them on your side. They are on their own side. The country could go to hell and all they would care about is their own careers.

Kinda reminds me of the Corporate America culture crowd. Everyone's job is expendable but theirs. Who cares if we outsource to China, India, ect. as long as they get a big bonus, regardless of the consequences. ;)

Remember that 95% of fortune 500 CEO's were Gore/Lieberman

Sorry to disappoint you all but America doesn't have the lock on all that is bad. The rest of the world does the same thing too. It is Corporate World not just Corporate USA. These things have been going on for who knows how long. We just stand out because we are bigger and into self-flagellation. I have seen oursourcing all the way from Australia to here. Our CEOs do it because we told them that either they increase profits or we cut them. What do you expect them to do? Sacrifice themselves? Not a chance. When you make an investment, you don't care why it went south. You don't ask about the moral high ground. When the balance sheet is negative, you move on. What message do you send the CEOs when you do that?

I've seen Hart on a couple of news talk shows lately -- he was on NPR for an hour speech as well. I was surprised that he seems pretty solid and level-headed cuz I wasn't that wild about him back during his groupie days.

Asked if he wanted to run, he said: "Oh no. I'm too old and too poor."

Bottom line is we always get the best candidate advailable at the time. Now, later on, that candidate might not suit us but that is another issue.

Bill Gates? Bill Gates hasn't done anything right since he showed up for that first meeting with IBM.

I agree

A few choices of mine are:

1) Bob Costas
2) Bob Dylan
3) Bill Bradley ( Great jump shot!)
4) Dick Cheney....NOT!!!! heh-heh
5) ...see below....

What was it Steve Jobs said of Gates back in the 80's or 90's? Something like he'd be more creative if he'd dropped acid or lived on an ashram for a few years.

Worth noting that while Gates cried all of the way to the bank, Apple has bumped along the periphery of computers ever since.

B

Is that JC Watts? You agree?!? Have you heard him speak? :eek:

True, but some of Jobs creations are a lot more interesting -- Pixar, the I-pod -- well he didn't exactly create them himself, but he obviously had a hand in it.

OTOH, I like Gates for a number of things. I get the impression his work with 3rd world health is sound and I agree with him that that will be the best way to get population growth under control.

It is not possible to have a great president. The parties conspire to elect their own straw man. The system conspires to elect the candidate that sucks in the flavor du jour. So time and again that’s what we get. We should abolish the office and replace it with a 3 person committee, each from a different party. That way we would stop thugary by party affiliation and maybe even start to address the problems that face the country instead of enduring one sleaze ball idiot in office after another, who always and only has a sincere agenda to disregard the needs of the public in favor of the demands of his favorite sugar daddies.

Until then all we get is a different face but nothing else ever changes, except when its for the worst.

I've heard him speak. He seemed sincere. To what did you object?

Sincere agenda? yeah, right. They only sincere agenda they have is the one they will not say. It is the one to help themselves and if you get benifitted, so be it.

Take a neutral party to observe and everyone will seem just about as sincere as the other. How is that a test of anything other than he has mastered the art of public speaking? In fact, AFAIK, Adolf Hitler seemed sincere to most of the people in pre WWII Germany. What does that say? From a translation of his speech a long time ago, he seemed a better candidate than any of the ones we have had. Once again, what does that say? BTW, he learnt the art of showmanship from some stage performer. We all know the wonders he did with the Jews but yet, there were reports of some of the Jews even being entranced by his "magic".

Why does everyone bother how much the person speaks or how well he speaks? Maybe a better, not perfect, better thing to do is look at their record and see how they voted and how it benifited the country and not just a particular area? No, that would be too simple. Never mind. Personally, I would rather have someone who could do what they said they would do and couldn't utter a word on stage than a masterpiece showman who couldn't do squat.

Yes, I've heard him speak, but only on television and briefly. Something about the gleam in his eye and the way he carried himself just screamed "Integrity!" and "Intelligence!" to me. He may not be the most articulate guy around but I've got a gut feeling about him (from TV) that hasn't steered me wrong in all of my previous jobs and now. I don't know why you can't see that, it's apparently obvious.

OK. Fine. However, what is his record like? Does he do what he says and no more and no less? Does he barter favors with other people? That is important because if he does, all it means is that he will get support on this program but will have to sell his soul and support another program that will hurt others but benifit another legislator. I mean, all this gleam in the eye crap is meaningless if he is buying and selling favors. That is why we are in this mess. Senator A gets support from Senators B, C, and D for his program. Fine, his district benifits at someone else's exepnse. Next time, it is his turn in the barrel.

Most of his opinions strike me as "off the shelf" Republican products. I'll have to review some of his statements to get a better handle on it but I wasn't too impressed. But I'm sure he's sincere about it. A sincere 40 Watt bulb is still a 40 watt bulb.

Oh, yur a clever leetle lahd.

OK, I never said body language was all I go by, just that it can offer clues. For example, I didn't trust Tom DeLay for a minute. He's a paint by the numbers Christian -- doesn't begin to get it, but all sorts of people believe he said the right words in the right order. C'mon people, the guy's got sleaze-monkey written all over him. He first entered politics because he was pissed that anyone (gubmint, driven by the people) would try to limit what kind of poison he could distribute into people's homes. (He was an exterminator if anyone reading this was unaware of that) DeLay's just one example, perhaps the most obvious.

I've seen Watts a few times and I wasn't impressed. Guy didn't strike me like he could think on his feet, and this was based on what he said. The gleem in his smile is a bit too metalic for my comfort. (hey got to throw you a bone here and there)

Sorry Aklim -- Pergo mon was trying to pull my leg off with that one -- heavy sacasmalism.

There is one big problem with JC Watts running for president. He fathered two illegitimate black babies. We know how republicans feel about fathering illegitimate black babies.

Perhaps so. However, I think that what I said should be used more than anything for voting. Problem is we take what the guy looks like, sounds like but never talk of their record. This is like the ricers with a fart pipe, wings and all that. Sounds good and looks good but when you take it down the track, it is probably an 18 second car, if that. Another thing to note is the huge wing on the back. AFAIK it is to help with rear traction. If that is the case, it might cause the car to be lighter on the front. Looks good but in a FWD car, losing traction on the front is, well......

It worked for Thomas Jefferson.

You awful man, you... :P