By some Great Gazoo feat of hocus-pocus, you are guaranteed to win the next presidential election, but must then grapple with the enormous domestic and foreign policy challenges of the next 4 years. While you get to etch your name in the history books and live in the White House, ride Air Force One, and globetrot wherever you wish, you must also face four years of partisan bickering, media circusing, and not a few smear campaigns.
Would you run?
Cheee-rist, no. President is the last things I would want to be. I’m holding out for God-Emperor. That way I can rule with impunity, without all the hassles of listening to Congress and the People. 
No way in the world would I want that job. Even if I knew exactly how to fix everything, I wouldn’t want to deal with the crap that’s inevitable. Nor would I want every minute detail of my personal life on the nightly news. I can honestly say I didn’t care about Reagan’s polyps (it was Reagan, wasn’t it?), and no one needs to know about my innards and their workings.
If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve. Ain’t interested.
Bet your ass I’d do it. Mmmm… Power… :: drool ::
Hell, yes. I’d get paid more than I would now. I’d be smart enough to appoint many intelligent people who know more than I do about the political arena to important positions, thus ensuring that I have good advisors. I’d be able to advocate causes that I care deeply about in a way that would be far more effective than what I can even dream of now.
As for the partisan bickering. . .it already annoys me. If I were president, that wouldn’t change. I have no problem doing the media thing; it wouldn’t bother me as long as I had to be the center of attention, which, being the President, would almost certainly be the case. And as for smear campaigns. . .ha! After going through eight years in the public school system as a bona fide geek and all-around outcast, I think that anything my opponents would have to say about me would be pretty ineffective. Besides, my life has been pretty boring so far; I can’t imagine what kind of scandal could occur.
Besides. . .would I be worried about being re-elected? Hell no! I’m a 22 year-old pagan chick with a sick sense of humor and a penchant for the silly. I’d know I wasn’t getting re-elected. I mean, I wouldn’t let my opponents know that, but I’d know. I’d be more focused on trying to change what I could while I was there, and, if I’m completely honest, I know that my views are too leftist to be legitimately elected in this country. I wouldn’t be willing to compromise for four more years.
On the one hand, all the political jockeying, media slander, public outcry regardless of what decision is made, and being viewed as the cause of - and solution to all the problems in the world makes the presidency as appealing as having to choose between the plague and ebola.
On the other hand, I am the best person for the job.
I’d probably give it a whirl. I still get one ‘hit’, right?
I’d take it.
Count me on the “not interested” side. Don’t want to put up with partisan bickering, don’t want to be second guessed on every news program, newspaper, etc. Don’t want to be the target of public mockery and second guessing everytime I did something stupid in public even if it wasn’t political (see Cheney and the shooting incident). Don’t want to have to change my lifestyle so that I won’t do stupid and unpopular things in public which lead to mockery (see how to prevent Cheney and the shooting incident). Don’t want to force my family to live in a fishbowl. Don’t want the responsibility. Don’t want anything to do with Washington D.C. . . . I 'll stop now.
Well, considering that I’m not even a US citizen, if I win the US presidential election, that’ll mean either a) you folks have decided to become part of Canada, 2) we have decided to become part of the US, or iii) both nations now belong to China.
Assuming I could run for US president, I think I’d do it. I have few ties: no girlfriend or immediate family; my birth family is either dead or far away. There’d be few people to suffer in the fishbowl with me, so I’d consider myself almost expendable to the task.
On the other hand, I’d be able to hire a presidential matchmaker and have access to a far broader spectrum of potential mates than I normally do.
Policies? I’d start by …humbling… the office.
I’d hire a Presidential Fool to sit next to me at meetings and remind me and everyone else that we are only human, if we start to take things too seriously.
I’d put up pictures of flooded cities and homeless people and wounded civilians and war-ruined houses to remind everyone to feel the cost of their decisions. The decisions must still be made, but they sould not be made lightly. These pictures would not be limited to US citizens or locations.
I’d return the “The Buck Stops Here” sign to the president’s desk. Preferably through a public ceremony.
If I thought I’d achieve something, I’d take it, but there’s the not-so-small matters of the Senators and Representatives. You know, those politicians. But I’d propose a budget with significant debt repayments (and magnanimously settle for lesser repayments :)), pushing as much responsibility downwards as possible. And I’d make the position a 9-5 job with evenings out. I’d make the VP handle the graveyard shift. I’m a big fan of less government.
And at the end of my term, I’d fire 90% of all bureaucrats. Just on principle.
On the other hand, four years of swanning around America and the world could be good fun.
[QUOTE=Carnac the Magnificent!]
Fuck no. It wouldn’t even be so much the pressure from the job or the incredible thanklessness of it, but the fact that your anonymity is lost forever. For the rest of your life you would be chained to security and the target for whacko stalkers of all sorts.
Also, I have no interest in power or authority. In fact as a rule I tend to not particularly like those that do. Surrounding myself with politicians 24/7 would be just another nail in the coffin.
If I were guaranteed the win, yes, I’d do it. I have some skeletons in my closet that could predictably cause me trouble, but if I’m guaranteed to win, they wouldn’t matter. I wouldn’t like it. If I were the only way to wrest power from the greedheads that now run everything, I would sacrifice my happiness for my country. Besides, I’d be set up for life. Any ex-pres can make a million a year for a few speeches. I could learn to live on that.
Hell yes. And without even a second thought.
Almost certainly no. I have no desire for the job and am completely unqualified for it. The only way I’d even consider it is if I knew that, if I didn’t take it, the job would go to someone who would be an even worse choice than myself, either by being even more incompetent or downright evil. And even then, I’d probably try to pick a really good vice president and turn over the reins to him (or her) as soon as possible.
Ye gods, and have to put up with every right-wing loonie in the country? I’d be climbing the clock tower with a sniper rifle inside of a week.
“No Spin this, Bill!” :eek: 
No way. I could never tolerate all the politcal bickering, jockeying, and backstabbing. Plus, there’s the fact that roughly half the country would think of me as Evil Incarnate. Forget it; give the job to some other goat.
I’d do it. Any hell that four years holds is worth making a positive difference in this country and leaving my ideological mark. Plus, I’d be interested in seeing how a 20-year-old can become president
No way. What a horrible job that must be.
I like the point of view there. Very admirable, especially for 20. But I could never sacrifice myself for my country I’m just too damn selfish.
Yes. Granted, I’d rather wait a few years until I’ve had more polisci and econ courses, but if it were now or never, I’d do it.
I would, however, much prefer being the one pulling the strings behind the president.