# Who would you pick to be President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 22, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502 "2023-03-22T15:54:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/41 "2023-03-22T19:41:12Z")
I want Jon Stewart as press secretary. I don’t think he’d make a very good president, but he could improve their communications significantly. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/42 "2023-03-22T19:41:14Z")
Franken/Stewart 2024 ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/43 "2023-03-22T19:41:20Z")
Jon Stewart seems like a good pick as well. With the amount of work he put into getting something for the 9/11 workers with cancer, he clearly has the passion. Politically of course he aligns with me well. Interesting how the vast majority of the picks are: 1. Current politicians (no great surprise) 2. A celebrity I would have thought there would be at least one figure from business picked. No desire for a Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, etc.? Also, no scientists picked yet. I mean come on, why not pick _Killer Robot #1701_… I mean uhhh… Fauci, deGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox, Noam Chomsky (more of an academic I guess)? _Beep_ ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/44 "2023-03-22T19:42:06Z")
If only we could bring Carl Sagan back ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/45 "2023-03-22T19:42:59Z")
If I can be allowed a minor hijack, I love the heck out of your avatar. I laugh every time I see it. “I’m here. I’m not a cat.” 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/46 "2023-03-22T19:45:51Z")
Haha thanks. The best part for me is the eyes probably looking at his cat image in the corner of the zoom window. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/47 "2023-03-22T19:48:06Z")
Would I be out of line in preferring Jill Stein as the candidate for Veep? Something about Franken/Stein that appeals to me. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/48 "2023-03-22T19:50:54Z")
Good for the lols, except that I don’t trust her. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/49 "2023-03-22T19:56:07Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > Franken/Stewart 2024 So long as we lean into the obvious “Frankenstein” motif before the MAGAts see it first. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/50 "2023-03-22T19:59:51Z")
Reminds me of an SF story where someone gets a knock on the door by people saying, you are now the World President. Our protagonist says, I don’t want the job. To which of course they reply: “Exactly, anyone who wanted the job is automatically disqualified. But you have been selected. Now come and do your service”. Maybe this should go into the thread of identifying SF stories…? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/51 "2023-03-22T20:00:33Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > I mean uhhh… Fauci Well, I guess it comes down to “Do I have a magic wand to make this person President” vs. “Do I think this person could win the election?” Fauci would be very unlikely to win. Essentially no one on the Republican side would vote for him, and he’s controversial enough that I’d expect him to lose some Democrat votes as well, just from people staying home. If I was going the Magic Wand route, and could just impose a President, then I might go for AOC over Fauci. I’m pretty sure she’s interested in the job, I think she’d be good at it, and it would completely freak out the Republicans as a bonus. But again, I’m not sure if she could win an election… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/52 "2023-03-22T20:04:53Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > **Stacey Abrams** of Georgia is one my heroes though and she is only 50. OK, until someone nominates someone better, I’ll pick **Stacey Abrams** Katie Porter’s only 49. She’s pretty smart, too. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/53 "2023-03-22T20:21:43Z")
As per the OP, you and only you will get to vote (i.e., what you are calling the magic wand route). So in some sense it is like asking: Regardless of all other factors, who do you think would make for the best president right now? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/54 "2023-03-22T22:07:10Z")
If only my vote counted, I would choose Alexandria, in the perhaps misbegotten hope that perhaps she would be intelligent enough to surround herself with wise and capable people. But, most likely, I would just vote no: we need to restructure the executive branch so that the central figure has basically no power of their own, acting more as a liason between the government and the people. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/55 "2023-03-22T22:16:19Z")
This sounds a little like “2066: Election Day” by Michael Shaara, but there candidates take exams for competency. Nobody can pass all the exams, so they find a professor who can be a plausible dark horse. Douglas Adams has a line that is closer. > “To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/56 "2023-03-22T22:17:53Z")
I like the way you think. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/57 "2023-03-22T22:24:07Z")
A Kindergarten teacher. Doesn’t much matter which one. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/58 "2023-03-22T22:34:12Z")
I have multiple concerns, as the OP only let’s us pick the president. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a great responsibility, but we’ve now had ample evidence that an obstructive legislature can largely negate even the most promising and determined president (unless, for example, they run roughshod over the guidelines of good governance). So I’d want someone who had at least a shred of a chance of convincing a few of our divided electorate to pressure congress to work on some good faith compromises. So, that largely leaves out most non-professionals (entertainers and the like). Ideally I’d like a socially liberal, fiscally conservative Democrat, or even a (pre-Trump) Republican. Sadly, most of the latter have been shouted down as RINOs, although I’d still support Kasich or even Ahhhhnold (although he’s too old even if the OP gives us specific approval!). Of the current Democratic crop, I do agree with @DavidNRockies that our governor would be a solid choice, although I think the knee-jerk rejection of his ‘lifestyle’ would prevent him from qualifying on my first point. I’d probably end up compromising on Gretchen Whitmer - she’s proven she can continue to function in a literally life-threatening environment and not crumble, something which I’m sure a candidate will need. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/59 "2023-03-22T23:00:44Z")
I like Kamala Harris and also Pete Buttigieg. I evaluate presidential candidates more by gut than by policy positions. Congress is more important for what actually gets done. The President is more for the bully pulpit and the lightning rod. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502/60 "2023-03-22T23:50:25Z")
Joe Biden. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > **Stacey Abrams** of Georgia is one my heroes though and she is only 50. OK, until someone nominates someone better, I’ll pick **Stacey Abrams** A good choice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-to-be-president/981502.md?page=4)