I would like to be the President of the United States. The Constitution says:
By the technical definition, I am eligible to be the President of the United States.
[ul]
[li]Born 10/1964 in Colorado, which had been a state for 82 years. :D[/li][li]Lived either in Colorado or Virginia ever since.[/li][/ul]
But what connections do I need to form to rise to power? What personal things help me? What elements from my past are going to haunt me?
Pros:
[ul]
[li]Married, with 1 daughter (see link in my sig line). First marriage for both of us, too.[/li][li]White male (excuse my un-PCness, but it’s still a plus nowadays)[/li][li]Protestant, goes to church every Sunday[/li][li]College graduate, BS in Computer Science[/li][/ul]
Cons:
[ul]
[li]Two DUI’s in my past. (I will tell my daughter about them when she’s old enough. )[/li][li]Bad credit (?). (But with $400,000 a year, I could clear that all up. )[/li][li]No legal training, i.e., no pre-law classes in college[/li][li]Never in the military[/li][li]Used to smoke pot in college. Not heavily, just if I happened to be standing where it was being passed around.[/li][/ul]
Well, I guess that’s part of my OP. What connections do I need to form to kiss enough butts to get enough people to pony up their moola to get me elected?
What’s the best way to get ingratiated into a political party? Democratic or Republican is definately the way to go, since the Green Party’s got a snowball’s chance on this globally-warmed planet’s surface of getting a candidate elected to the top.
Well, I think the easier path would be Republican personally. You can ingratiate yourself with the huge companies that you will NEED to support you without seeming like a hypocrite.
It really depends on which political party you ally yourself with. Basically the USA is a two party system, and seems destined to stay that way. So you have a choice of the Republicans or the Democrats.
Since you mentioned your being Protestant as a plus, I might suggest the Republican Party. Although with bad credit, they might look at you as too poor to side with the rich elite of the Republicans. The hawks in the Republican Party might have a problem with your military record, but they aren’t as vocal as other factions of the party.
When you side with a Party, don’t be too radical. Be a liberal Republican or a conservative Democrat. That way you are seen as middle of the road.
Political experience seems to be a must. You could be a Senator, but better chances if you are Governor of a state. It would be more effective if you were from a state with more electoral votes. Move to California, Texas or New York (or at least get a VP from one of those states).
Most Important: Don’t be a hypocrite. If you come across as a Pro-Life candidate and you paid for a girlfriend to have an abortion – you lose credibility. Since you tried drugs, I would stay away from “Just Say No” campaigns.
Are those all the skeletons in your closet? Make sure that you reveal everything, or at least have good explanations when those skeletons come out. Americans are preoccupied with every facet of their candidates and in these days of the Internet there is no such thing as a secret.
Lastly, and most importantly, remember that every state counts. George W won by one electoral vote. We would be looking at Gore for President if he managed to carry his home state of Tennessee.
You definitely need connections to even think about making a feasible run for president.
Presumably you’re already disqualified from the G.W. Bush & Al Gore route, born to a powerful family with ready-made connections in politics and business. Oh well.
Failing that, you could try the Steve Forbes route. First, build up a significant personal fortune… Well, that’s a bit tough…Forbes already had the ready-made fortune.
Bill Clinton made it his life’s mission to get into politics and eventually become president. Remember the letter he wrote about his draft status? Looks like your a late bloomer to this whole politics thing.
So, the best way is probably to start at the bottom of the totem pole. Run for city council and make a name for yourself in your local area, learn who the local political power brokers are and get on their good side. Play golf with them, let them know that you support every idea they have. Once you’ve done that, run for either your State Assembly or if your really ambitious the House of Representitives. Now you’re in the big leagues. Make a bigger name for yourself. Get yourself on Crossfire and other political talk shows…“normal people” might not watch them but “important people” do. Suck up to the leadership of your chosen party (you are going to be either a Democrat or a Republican, right?) and drop hints that one day you’d like to be president.
Hard to say whether or not any of your history would help or hinder you. It looks as if past drug use is less and less of an issue…heck G.W.B. probably was a user well past his college years. The DUI’s won’t hurt if you own up to them and say that you’ve learned from it. Military service is a big help…everyone loves a war hero but since you were born in 1964 you didn’t have many chances to be a hero. In twenty years once the Vietnam generation goes out to pasture I don’t think whether or not you served in the military will make a hill-of-beans of difference. It seems like all politicians are lawyers but by not being a lawyer you can call yourself a “political outsider”. All-in-all I’d say your background is pretty neutral…nothing especially helpful but nothing especially damaging.
It would still be a long shot. I think Harry Truman was the last guy to truly pull himself up from the bootstraps to the presidency.
I think the main thing you need is “electability.” Neither of the major parties is going to support someone whom they don’t believe can get elected and you are never going to be POTUS without support from one of the major parties. (Don’t expect any more major party candidates in the Dukakis mold.)
Having “electability” means being the quintessential glad-hander. You don’t have to be smart (vide the Bush dynasty), you don’t have to be wise (vide the incumbent) and you don’t have to be honest (vide - oh, forget it, you know what I mean). But you have to be able to make everyone feel that you are THEIR friend (or at least make the members of the press feel like you are their friend. W was apparently helped a lot by his practice of giving journalists nick names. His father evidently endeared himself to enough voters to win in 1988 by saying he hated brocolli and loved port rinds.)
How about marrying into a rich family? That might be the easiest way. Instant wealth, instant connections. Skips at least a few of the hardest steps. And it would be best if your last name matched the girl you’re marrying already. You could arrange for that ahead of time I’m sure – it would even give you an in with her. Once wed, you just need something to make up for the lack of credibility. Maybe some good business experience or a military background. Joining the military after a bad early life is an easy way to clean your slate and kiss up to the veterans. If you’ve got credibility, you can easily get a seat in the House, maybe even the Senate, if you pick the right state and there is no incumbent. Now put in your dues for 10 or 15 years, make A LOT of friends, and you might get a shot at the big one, if you’re lucky.
Found a company called “The United States”. Make yourself President.
Sorry.
Unless you can overthrow the government, you’re going to have to do it the hard way as already described. (And we all know that’s no fun.) However, if by some method you can kill off 99% of the population first, you can greatly increase your chances a hundred-fold. Hey, things are looking up!
Sorry, already married. I know hypothetically that would help, but I’m talking based off of my real life right now.
Spiro Agnew rose from nowhere to VP in less than two years. Had he not been a tax cheat at that same time, he would’ve been prez in 1974. And he didn’t have a cute baby to help him along. (see below) :D:D
The best way to become president is first to become governor of your state. Especially if you live in a large state. You also need to become an effective public speaker. The Clinton model is probably the best one to follow if you do not have money or connections. He volunteered in some campaigns to familiarize himself with the process. He then ran for congress and lost but that helped raise his name recognition for when he ran for attorney general. He then became the natural choice to run for governor. Once governor he became a part of national organizations such as the DLC to raise his national profile. This led to a high profile speaking gig at the convention and then he ran for the nomination and won the presidency. This took about 20 years. It has ben done in less time by such people as the Roosevelts, Grover Cleveland, and our current president-elect but I would say 10-20 years is more realistic.