# Lou Dobbs for President **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 12, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306 "2009-11-12T13:12:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![haymarketmartyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/35a633/32.png) [@haymarketmartyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haymarketmartyr)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/1 "2009-11-12T13:12:27Z")
Lou Dobbs waves bye-bye to his job with CNN from the NY Times > [@](#): > > Lou Dobbs, the longtime CNN anchor whose anti-immigration views have made him a TV lightning rod, said Wednesday that he is leaving the cable news channel effective immediately. > > Sitting before an image of an American flag on his television set, he said “some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day.” > > “I’m considering a number of options and directions,” Mr. Dobbs added. A transcript of his remarks is available here. > > Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN/U.S. said in a statement that “Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere.” > > “All of us will miss his appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger than life presence he brought to our newsroom,” Mr. Klein said. > > Wednesday’s program will be Mr. Dobbs’ last on CNN. His contract was not set to expire until the end of 2011. He told viewers that CNN had agreed to release him from his contract early. Here is one suggestion for Mr. Dobbs - run for President of the USA on a third party ticket. There are three years between now and that election and that would give him plenty of time to channel the tea party movement into a electoral movement. He would have time to form formal party structures in the states and create a grass roots organization. The big error that most third party candidates make is they simply wait too long to get going and have to rush everything in a single year. Dobbs can correct that error by beginning to organize right now and use the tea party movement to do it. The latest PEW poll indicated that over 50% of Independents wanted to see a viable third party as an option. Here is their opportunity. There is even a draft Dobbs website [http://loudobbs4president.com/](http://loudobbs4president.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/2 "2009-11-12T13:14:30Z")
Sarah Palin as his VP? ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/3 "2009-11-12T13:16:55Z")
They want a viable third party candidate. Dobbs couldn’t maintain ratings on a TV show I doubt he could do so in polls. ---
**Author:** ![haymarketmartyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/35a633/32.png) [@haymarketmartyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haymarketmartyr)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/4 "2009-11-12T13:18:08Z")
That is one idea. I would favor Palin getting the GOP nod and Dobbs on his own third party ticket. Or vice versa would work for me too. here is another draft Dobbs website > **[loudobbsforpresident.org](http://www.loudobbsforpresident.org/)** > > This domain may be for sale! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/5 "2009-11-12T13:21:23Z")
I’m assuming you want him to run as a spoiler, but do you honestly think Lou Dobbs is going to take votes away from Sarah Palin, **haymarketmartyr**? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/6 "2009-11-12T13:24:07Z")
I concur with the OP. I think there should be more choices for the right. Social and fiscal conservatives are wildly at odds, and it’s about time they acknowledged it. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/7 "2009-11-12T13:50:01Z")
> [@haymarketmartyr](#): > > The big error that most third party candidates make is they simply wait too long to get going and have to rush everything in a single year. Dobbs can correct that error by beginning to organize right now and use the tea party movement to do it. But Dobbs is a pro-choice populist who has generally supported gay rights. He imagines himself a champion for helping the middle class. Teabaggers HATE the idea of helping the middle class. To the limited extent that they’re actually fiscally motivated they are primarily interested in not spending tax dollars to help people, preferring the money instead go to big health care companies. That’s pretty antithetical to Dobb’s politics. Plus, in reality, a huge portion of the angry teabagging that we’ve been forced to watch on cable news is motivated by hated of gays and women. There’s no way someone who isn’t rabidly pro-life and anti-gay rights could harness the teabagger’s attention for long. As soon as they learned a little more about him they’d get mad, then get distracted and go back to teabagging each other outside the Capitol. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/8 "2009-11-12T14:12:00Z")
Lou Dobbs is about as viable a candidate as if Ross Perot had run in 2000. Dobbs is a major-league a-hole who alienates anyone but the few who watch his show. The most galling thing his is self-identification as a “defender of the middle class,” when the only thing that he is interested in is really Lou Dobbs. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/9 "2009-11-12T14:20:39Z")
Good luck with the Hispanic vote. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/10 "2009-11-12T14:38:49Z")
Lou, you gotta stay in the public eye if for no other reason than to give Keith Olbermann the opportunity to continue to read your quotes in his doddering old man voice. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/11 "2009-11-12T14:44:48Z")
Bah. He’ll be on Fox in a few weeks, tops. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/12 "2009-11-12T14:47:16Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > I concur with the OP. I think there should be more choices for the right. Social and fiscal conservatives are wildly at odds, and it’s about time they acknowledged it. Correct me if I’m getting a false impression here. You made vague disapproving noises toward Ralph Nader when he ran for president last time around, and it seemed like you were doing so because you disapproved of splitting the center-to-left vote. So I wonder why you figure unity is a dandy thing for your side but ours should discard it, apart from pure partisan considerations. I thank you in advance for your reply. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/13 "2009-11-12T14:51:49Z")
> [@omgzebras](#): > > Good luck with the Hispanic vote. True except for, of course, his wife’s. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/14 "2009-11-12T14:52:43Z")
Being discontented with Ralph Nader is not necessarily inconsistent with wishing for a viable third party. While he has certainly been an avid watchdog, he is an extremely polarizing figure and there are far more (voting) citizens against than for his ideas. At this point, the only person who does not see the impossibility of a Ralph Nader administration is Ralph Nader. It’s small wonder that independent voters would like to see someone else on the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/15 "2009-11-12T14:56:13Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Correct me if I’m getting a false impression here. You made vague disapproving noises toward Ralph Nader when he ran for president last time around, and it seemed like you were doing so because you disapproved of splitting the center-to-left vote. > > So I wonder why you figure unity is a dandy thing for your side but ours should discard it, apart from pure partisan considerations. > > I thank you in advance for your reply. whoosh ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/16 "2009-11-12T15:09:22Z")
Entertainers have gone on to successful political careers before, including the Presidency, so it’s not necessarily out of the question. But to shoot \*directly \*for POTUS? Pipe dream. Anybody running for President who’s never held an elected office before is automatic toast. He’d need to set his sights lower first – find a friendly congressional district or something and work his way up. 2016 at the very earliest; 2020 more realistically if anyone is to consider him a viable candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/17 "2009-11-12T15:17:39Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > whoosh OR possibly a [giant sucking sound](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_sucking_sound). ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/18 "2009-11-12T15:20:15Z")
I find it fascinating how quickly some folks jump on the “Elect him President!” bandwagon when a third rate cable TV ranter becomes ‘available’. Geez, do you really think the Presidency of the United States is that easy of a job that a glorified DJ can do it? Are you really so bereft of real leadership that you would hook your wagon to any old sod who has been shown to mouth a few of your talking points in the past? Good luck with that! ---
**Author:** ![haymarketmartyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/35a633/32.png) [@haymarketmartyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haymarketmartyr)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/19 "2009-11-12T15:28:39Z")
I have two very different reasons for this idea of running Dobbs for president on a third party. And the two are somewhat in opposition to each other. One is purely serious and the other is partisan and selfish. I lay that out in advance in complete honesty. I have felt for a long time (I am 60 and have been following politics since my teens) that America needs a third party to represent the issues of average, middle class Americans. I hoped that Ross Perot could have done that. He did speak for much of middle America and did garner 19% of the vote which is a major accomplishment in and of itself. However, Perot built an election effort solely around his own personality and the issues he cared about at that time and as he lost interest his party collapsed and went the way of other such efforts in the past. I think the time is ripe to start a third party effort - perhaps more than one - but it needs to be done with enough time to properly get on the ballot and prepare for 2012. The odds of winning would be long if not nearly impossible. I do not see such an effort as a one shot effort but something which needs to be nurtured and tended to for several election cycles. I think it needs to be done on a state and local level as well with third party candidates running for all the other offices besides president. Perhaps if this went on for a decade or more, we could end up with a very viable and competitive new party looking out for the middle class and their issues. On a partisan and selfish note, I supported Obama and expect to support him in 2012. Running somebody like Dobbs - or Palin - or Beck - or anyone who might appeal to the tea party group, would help in the effort to put Obama in for a second term. Splitting the normal GOP vote, much like what was done in NY 23, would be the inspiration for that. I fully realize that if I get my wish, in the long run, it could cost the Democrats down the road in future elections. That is why i have admitted up front that my two goals are in somewhat opposition to one another. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306/20 "2009-11-12T15:36:59Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Entertainers have gone on to successful political careers before, including the Presidency, so it’s not necessarily out of the question. He’s not going to run. I said the same thing about Chris Matthews when he was thinking about running for the Senate in Pennsylvania: these guys like to believe they’re the voice of the people and could win an election, but they don’t want to do the work or face the embarrassment of losing and finding out that most of the public doesn’t take them seriously. Plus they would be held accountable more directly for what they say, and they would have to bite their tongues sometimes if they wanted to get anything done. In other words, being in politics sounds like more work than talking about politics on TV, and less fun. And I don’t believe Dobbs is ideological enough to give up his TV and radio jobs permanently to start campaigning. From the change in programming to the hair dye, it’s about the money. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lou-dobbs-for-president/517306.md?page=2)