Would you want to run for office?

We had this discussion over lunch today. Essentially, we considered whether we were what we would consider to be “electable” to national office; say President, Senator, or a Congressman.

Are your views such that the majority of the electorate might support you? Is your past so clean that you weather any political storm that might erupt as a result of your past being pasted on Page 1 of a national newspaper?

I hold views which are considered extremely right wing, and other views which are considered extremely left wing. My past, however, is something which I think would cause people to quickly look at other candidates. There are more than just a few skeletons in my closet and, frankly, I’d prefer they stay exactly where they are.

And it raises another question: Do people who run for office believe that there is nothing in their past which would derail a bid for office, or do they simply believe their past isn’t as bad as the pasts of the other candidates?

From what I can tell, a person who runs for office, especially President, needs to be prepared to have the media crawl up his ass with a magnifying glass. I’m just surprised that, every four years, we get plenty of folks who are willing to have exactly that happen…

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Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":

I'm not sure that I would want to run for office. I've contemplated it a few times, and at this point I think I would prefer to stay in a realm where I can at least escape with a good 3/4s of my soul.

At the tender age of 18 I think my past is pretty damn clean, barring a few ill-advised Halloween costumes, but that hasn't stopped Rudi!

I doubt severely that I could get elected for several reasons. For one thing, I am extremely liberal. I live in a somewhat blue rural district, and I'm not sure that some of my beliefs would register with the populace in a positive manner. I support the decriminalization of most drugs, the right of Gays to get married etc. While this might make me popular with your average highschool pothead/counterculturistzomg! I doubt it would win me any votes.

Plus I'm like... uh... hella young.

However, the number one reason that I don't think I would get elected, or should run in the first place, is that I don't love America. Oh yes, I value the freedoms that I enjoy here, and the standard of living, and all of the good things. I have American citizenship, almost all of my friends are American, etc. I don't love it, but nobody should accuse me of hating it. I just don't prioritize it, nor do I have a particular attachment to the United States on an emotional level. That is to say, I would be disinclined to support policies that promoted American interests over those of other countries. Some see this as traitorous, I see it as moving beyond nationalism. Nonetheless, it makes me unelectable.

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"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
Matthew 5:9

I would not run for office. Although I've been a member of and even chaired various committees, I do not like the limelight. I'm quite happy to be the person running things behind the scenes if I am asked to do so.

I prefer my skeletons to remain in the closet so I'd never run!!!!

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming 'WOO HOO, what a ride!'"

I don't consider politics to be an honorable way to make a living. And it's good I think that way because nobody in their right mind would ever donate to my campaign.

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The most important political office is that of private citizen.
Louis D. Brandeis - First Jewish Supreme Court Justice

Aside from a few antics I pulled some years ago (Tp'ing, egging houses, etc.), my record would be pretty clean. Plus, I believe real change happens with people in neighborhoods, in cities, on streets -- "The Revolution will not be Televised", if you will.

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"A generation of American people which receives the answers to all its moral dilemmas by seeking intervention from Washington will be a people incompetent to decently regulate their own lives. Such a people will not remain moral or free for long."

"I believe ossamas and palestinian interpretation of islam is the most correct and logically sound." - metalted

I have contemplated the future prospect running for public office and i may well at some point down the line.

At the moment i'm appointed to my current position and don't need confirmation, if it gets the point where i get promoted to needing to be confirmed by the Senate that would be a good indicator as to how "electable" i would be. But my position wouldn't be that which drew a lot of attention from the public, in fact it may even be behind closed doors.

I have a few skeletons (everyone posting here will have to worry about they ever posted anything they regret, any comment they wish they'd never made) but which politician hasn't had any?

If i stay within my job capacity now and keep the job, even without promotion i probably won't ever run for office, even if i don' ave this job maybe i'd be appointed to something ele which right now (without a confirmation proccess) makes this job a lot easier than running for office.

I thought about running for my town's Mayor (I'm just east of San Diego). The guy who's in office has done a pretty fair job, though, with the exception of one or two mis-steps.

All in all, though, I have to ask myself if I could do an overall better job than he's done, and I don't know that I could...

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Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":

I don't have much in the way of political aspirations, but I have considered running for the school board. The questionable antics in my background are all minor, but I suppose if I were aiming for a major office, they might be spun by my rivals to make me less favorable to voters.

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There you are!

The problem running in the same town I've lived in all my life would be that I couldn't say I didn't inhale.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming 'WOO HOO, what a ride!'"

ditto............

I actually hold public office, but it's very minor - our local library board. From there, I may or may not progress to town council, state legislature, congress, senate, president, and world dictator. But given that each subsequent step only has about a 20% chance of being tried and an indeterminant chance of success, I think you're all pretty safe...

Conventional wisdom states that I'd need to bury my skeletons a little better; my thought is that I need a voter-palatable way to face up to them when/if they come out, since I'm not good at such subterfuge.

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Today's forecast: Government corruption.

Tomorrow's forecast: 100% chance of more 'politics as usual'

Maybe it's finally time to vote Libertarian

Anyone who has posted on this forum is screwed for being elected as the media will find what you posted and repeat it.

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http://www.fairtax.org

Elminate all taxes on income and replace with a national sales tax.

Precisely, everyone has sais something here (that even if they believe in or wasn't a mistake) would react badly with an electorate and would probably be real "fuel" (for lack of a better word) for their opponents.

I would love to serve, but I know that things I've done in my past would far outweigh whatever I can say, and would thereby limit any possible contribution.

It's unfortunate, but true.