The 10th anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson is coming up and as I saw a Sully interview on Facebook I was tempted to post a comment (half-jokingly) “Sully for President!” only to find out someone already had. And the more I think about it, the more I believe he could actually do it.
Aside from being an actual hero, he’s got lots going for him:
Born in Texas and probably still quite popular there. Popular across the country as judged by his bestselling books and box office hit movie.
Not a whiff of scandal to the man. Happily married. Probably could not name a single porn star other than the ones that have been in the news for the past couple years.
Very genuine and gives great speeches. Integrity. Smarts. Determination. He has two Masters degrees but doesn’t talk like a professor so he’s relatable. The kind of guy you could have a beer with.
Has actually served in the military and went where they sent him. I am guessing he is popular among that crowd as well.
Not afraid to poke fun at himself. There is a hilarious clip in which takes on the role of Tom Hanks on a late night show.
Now as for actually getting him involved in politics, he said no when the Republicans asked him in 2009. However, in 2018 he published anop-ed in which he put the current administration on blast without dropping any names. Of particular note was his quote about how his fame created an obligation to use the bully pulpit for good.
If we imagine the United States of America as an airplane… well, it hasn’t hit the water yet. But before it does, I know who I’d like to have at the controls.
He comes across as a very good man, smart but relatable, and self-effacing. While those are qualities I’d like to see in more politicians, as Chefguy notes, with absolutely no experience in politics or governance, it’s not a good role for him.
And, while that may be, “bully pulpit” does not necessarily translate to “White House.”
I definitely remember when that happened; I was off work that day, and had just finished watching “Man On Wire” when I turned on “All Things Considered” and it led with that story. I turned the TV over to CNN and there was a live shot of the plane floating in the Hudson with dozens of people standing on the wings.
Have him start in the state assembly or even
Congressman. There’s been a lot of news since the Miracle on the Hudson so that wouldn’t be too relevant these days. I think we’ve seen what happens when we get an entry level president and I don’t want to see this movie again. As I’ve mentioned often, all Democratic primaries and caucuses allocate their delegates proportionally so it’s not possible for someone to run up delegates by winning by a small plurality in winner take all or winner take most states like Trump did.
I don’t know anything about him other than when he was first in the news. I know the name, I know what happened that day, never read his book, saw the movie, heard him speak etc. But how about we stop electing (or nominating) people that happen to be popular right this moment.
What would happen if there was a requirement to have worked in government for X years or to have held some specific elected position for a certain amount of time. Just something to make sure that candidates understand politics, are willing to put in actual time doing it and aren’t likely to be elected because they’re a celebrity.
I understand that people like the idea of not having career politicians that don’t know anything else, but at the same time you want politicians that at least know something about the field (or have had a chance to get pushed out at the local level first).
To make a point, the OP mentions many reasons why Sully should be president, but none of them have anything to do with his politics, just his personality.
There is no way in hell that he has the aggressive personality necessary for running the campaign he would need to run. His skill is that he is calm and collected, but that’s not gonna get it done. Look what happened to John Kasich and Jeb Bush. Nice guys finish last in today’s political climate.
Yeah, he’s clearly an excellent pilot. If I had a job opening for a pilot and he applied for the job, I’d hire him. Which has next to nothing to do with running a country.
It actually is still possible to get non-proportional results under the DNC rules for proportional representation. The DNC implements a nationwide threshold of 15% of the vote to earn delegates.(Cite.) The threshold is the winner’s percentage of the vote minus 10% if nobody exceeds the 15% threshold. It’s the same or close to the same in small fields. We could still be looking at 10+ candidates in the field on Super Tuesday this cycle. That prospect raises the real possibility of markedly non-proportional results. Imagine a statewide total where someone gets 33% and everyone else is below the threshold. The statewide delegates would then be allocated “proportionally” in a way that produces the same result as winner take all. The plurality winner gets all the delegates.
I specified statewide because the rules also allocate delegates proportionally by Congressional district. The smaller numbers introduce some possibility of rounding effects that don’t necessarily average out across the districts. The 15% threshold still applies at district level.
There’s proportional and then there’s the rules the DNC calls proportional. The likely large field and front loaded schedule in this next cycle could produce some genuinely odd results.
That’s true. If you’re honest and competent, and have good judgment, you can probably find plenty of good people to fill the high positions of government and give you good advice.
Trump shouldn’t be the poster child for “outsider.” He should be the poster child for “incompetent disgusting dishonest asshole.”
What this country needs is a military general. Someone like Mattis or McRaven. If the Trumpists start getting out of hand and talking about civil war, then they get arrested and put in Guantanamo.
Eisenhower was the last president to come from a background outside the standard political sphere, and he did ok. Other presidents who had never held elected office before the presidency were Taylor, Grant, and Hoover, none of whom rank particularly highly.
Unfortunately, a good-sized segment of the American population like incompetent disgusting dishonest assholes or are incompetent disgusting dishonest assholes.
But that aside, please America, don’t do the celebrity-president thing again. You have plenty of qualified individuals who have held federal elected office, been a state governor, been a four-star general or held a cabinet post. Pick one of them.