Who is your ideal hypothetical candidate?

[Mosier]

It's hard for me to believe that anyone has to hold their nose to vote for a candidate in this election, especially when compared to recent previous ones. But there it is, in black and white. People refer to a candidate as the "lesser of evils" as if this is an election just like any other, and they can't really find a candidate they like.

If you don't like any of the candidates in this election, who WOULD you want to vote for? We have candidates for people who want a legitimate war hero, a charismatic and inspiring intelligent young person, a return to the booming mid-late 90s economy, a powerful woman, a minority, an elder statesman...I can't actually think of any positive political adjective that you couldn't find in at least one of the three major candidates. This is the most exciting presidential election ever, right?! We get to vote for people we actually WANT TO BE THE PRESIDENT, and don't have to vote AGAINST anyone as our only priority. That's my take on it at least, but plenty of people disagree with me.

So what's missing in the candidates we have now? I guess we don't really have a good "dismantle the government and let everyone earn the right to live in arena death matches" candidate like Ron Paul would have been, but I don't think the average voter who is displeased with our choices would have preferred the guy. What's really surprising to me is the conservative military types who will only grudgingly vote for McCain, like I'm seeing in the thread over in IMHO. Who in the whole wide world is a better candidate to represent conservative military servicemen?

[FriarTed]

Back in the 1980s, I was hoping for Jack Kemp by 2000. Not sure at this point who is most like 80s-era Kemp, but if one arises, he (or she) is my ideal candidate.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

As cheerleader-ish as it sounds, Obama is pretty close to my ideal. My only qualification is that I would have preferred him to have a little more seasoning.

ETA I would have loved Paul Wellstone too.

[Larry Borgia]

I liked crusty old Chris Dodd. I could also support Chuck Hagel. Bill Richardson's paper resume looks great, but his campaign performance lacked something.

Obama is my remaining favorite. He seems smart and idealistic. I do worry about his inexperience and his anti-NAFTA stance troubles me.

[BrainGlutton]

Based on the wording of the OP I infer the individual Doper's "ideal hypothetical candidate" is not necessarily an electable one, just one the Doper would like to see as POTUS. I'd like somebody like Senator Bernie Sanders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders) -- a self-identified democratic socialist but not in any sense an ideologue; also, he/she should have multiple graduate degrees in economics, history, and public administration, and some executive experience in government at some level. Military experience helpful but not essential.

[Maeglin]

The candidate who best represents my preferences over outcomes is, naturally, me.

[The Controvert]

Someone who is good with budgets and long term thinking.

[jtgain]

Who in the whole wide world is a better candidate to represent conservative military servicemen?


Maybe someone who is actually a conservative would be a good start.

[BrainGlutton]

Maybe someone who is actually a conservative would be a good start.

:rolleyes: Ayuh. (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080421/perlstein)

But what is it that made supporting a senator who has earned an 83 lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and votes with his party 88.3 percent of the time feel like mourning in the first place? They weren't this hard, after all, on fair-weather conservatives Bob Dole in 1996 or George H.W. Bush in 1988 and 1992, were they?

Conservatism is, among many other things, a culture. The most important glue binding it together is a shared sense of cultural grievance--the conviction, uniting conservatives high and low, theocratic and plutocratic, neocon and paleocon, that someone, somewhere is looking down their noses at them with a condescending sneer. And to conservatives, McCain has been too often one of the sneerers. It is, as much as anything else, a question of affect. As Michael Reagan wrote, "I don't like the way he treats people. You get the impression that he thinks everybody is beneath him."

They are not entirely imagining things. Birds fly, fish swim, McCain preens: it has ever been thus. His preening has turned the thin-skinned crypt-keepers of conservatism hysterical. "McCain's apostasies," Charles Krauthammer recently wrote in the Washington Post, "are too numerous to count." They aren't, really. Some conservatives still call the Republican nominee "Juan" McCain, for what Reagan calls "such blatantly anti-conservative actions as his support for amnesty for illegal immigrants." But of course Reagan's sainted father, in signing the 1986 immigration bill, was a more unapologetic and effective advocate of "amnesty" than McCain ever was--and you don't hear him getting labeled "Ronaldo" Reagan. Note, also, that other supposed bugaboo of conservative ideology: pork-barrel government spending. McCain is the Senate's leading fighter against spending earmarks. If pork was what they truly cared about, he'd be a hero. But that stance has earned him no points on the "conservative" side of the ledger.

<snip>

For decades, the operative theory in Republican politics has been that there exists a seething mass of lockstep conservative voters controlled by leaders like these, without whose support no Republican can win a presidential election. Michael Reagan puts it this way: "If [McCain] gets the nomination the only way he could win against Hillary or Barack Obama would be to be part of a McCain-Limbaugh ticket." But that's certainly never been reflected in any actual electoral data. Indeed, this year it appears that conservative opinion leaders are more out of touch with the masses they purport to lead than ever. According to a recent CBS poll, only 17 percent of Republicans want an uncompromising conservative as their nominee. Eighty percent of Republicans are satisfied with McCain. Sixty percent of conservative primary voters say they "want a candidate who would compromise with Democrats in order to get things done."

[BrainGlutton]

. . . also, he/she should have multiple graduate degrees in economics, history, and public administration . . .

Oh, and large-animal veterinary medicine.

For the pony.

[flurb]

a self-identified democratic socialist but not in any sense an ideologue; also, he/she should have multiple graduate degrees in economics, history, and public administration, and some executive experience in government at some level. Military experience helpful but not essential.

Bartlett '08!

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Anyone who will legalize marijuana, so my wife can obtain what she needs legally and more easily to relieve her stress, and as a consequence, I get laid.

[BrainGlutton]

Anyone who will legalize marijuana, so my wife can obtain what she needs legally and more easily to relieve her stress, and as a consequence, I get laid.

Alternatively, anyone who will legalize prostitution.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Alternatively, anyone who will legalize prostitution.
Yes, for you guys out there whom have yet to have the windfall of emotional fortune that is a wife!

[BrainGlutton]

Yes, for you guys out there whom have yet to have the windfall of emotional fortune that is a wife!

When the wind blows something on to you, it is usually a mixed blessing at best. ;)

[Eben]

I'd want to see someone randomly picked from the entire population of the US. Completely random. I'm willing to wager that whoever it is does no worse than anyone elected. Mostly 'cause if a real crazy who's not elected tries to enforce their religious preconceptions on the populace at large, or start a war or two through lying, Congress and the public would actualy have a complaint or two that could stick.

Realisticaly, I'm voting for Clinton 'cause I want to see how well Bill can do as an unofficial back-door-channel operator. I suspect he could get some policy and trade deals done without too much public eye on him that would help the world's economy.

-Eben

[BrainGlutton]

I'd want to see someone randomly picked from the entire population of the US.

Y'know, I once read a B&W graphic novel based on that idea -- called President Bob or something like that. It didn't make what you call a strong case for or against "randomocracy," but it was funny.

Realisticaly, I'm voting for Clinton 'cause I want to see how well Bill can do as an unofficial back-door-channel operator.

Actually, I'm not sure that's his preferred channel. But I could be wrong.

[pprgrl]

Y'know, I once read a B&W graphic novel based on that idea -- called President Bob or something like that. It didn't make what you call a strong case for or against "randomocracy," but it was funny.


Arthur C. Clarke also used the idea in Songs of Distant Earth. The idea was that anyone who actively sought political power was automatically judged as unfit to wield it. The idea has always appealed to me.

And now for a confession which will surely make you all think that I'm either incredibly politically naive or maybe just plain stupid: I've always kind of secretly wanted Oprah to run for president.

[Stealth Potato]

A pro-gun Obama would be pretty close to perfect for me. :D There might be a few other things that I disagree with him on to a lesser extent, but he's an intelligent man and I'm willing to see what he's capable of.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

I'd really like to see a president who isn't a member of the Democrat or Republican parties and whose primary focus would be fixing the problems in the U.S. rather than worrying about everyone else's problems around the world. And, of course, he or she would need to agree with me on all of the major issues.

[BrainGlutton]

Bartlett '08!

Guess what? President Bartlet endorses Obama! (http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/martin-sheen-backs-obama_10041816.html)

[BwanaBob]

Phillip K. Dick's first published novel (1953?) "Solar Lottery" also expounded on the theme of having a randomly selected leader. Hilarity ensues.

[Elendil's Heir]

...And now for a confession which will surely make you all think that I'm either incredibly politically naive or maybe just plain stupid: I've always kind of secretly wanted Oprah to run for president.

On the short-lived courtroom drama/science fiction TV series Century City, set about a decade from now, there was a case in which a defendant's sanity was at issue. On the stand, he's asked by the prosecutor what day it is, what city he's in, and who is President. He says, "Tuesday, Los Angeles, Oprah Winfrey," and the prosecutor turns to the judge and says, "As you can see, Your Honor, the defendant is completely aware of reality."

If I'm not going to be moving into the White House (and I have a SDMB campaign thread going), I'd say Obama. As others have noted, I wish he were a bit more seasoned, and I could certainly do without his NAFTA-bashing/"bitter" gaffe/Rev. Wright controversy, but otherwise I've been very impressed with him as a candidate, and think he has the genuine potential for greatness in office.

[BrainGlutton]

And now for a confession which will surely make you all think that I'm either incredibly politically naive or maybe just plain stupid: I've always kind of secretly wanted Oprah to run for president.

It would be naive and stupid to want Oprah to be president, but there are conceivable ways she could do some good by running.