What does it take to run for president?

Having a former president as your husband.

 

Oh, I'm on top of it. We have contacts, too. Hell, we wouldn't need and RV. We could just stay with SportsJournalists.commers while on the road.

We could even base the campaign out of the Trentonian office since it appears they'll be empty soon enough.

 

Three words:

Interns and cigars.

 

I don't know.

But I know what it takes to sell real estate:

 

A huge ego and a malleable set of principles.

 

Get active in local politics, and if your state has term limits, make a run at a term-limited rep. or state senator.
If the district is hurting for viable candidates, you'd have an honest to God chance at getting the nod for either the Dems or Repubs.
And fuck Ralph Nader. As a direct result of his running in 2000, America is stuck in Iraq and how many dead are the result?
All because of his massive, I put seat belts in cars ego. Somebody should bullet in his brain since Nader doesn't have the decency to do it to himself.

 

Bitter contempt for the bewildered herd.

 

As far as background, here it is for the last few presidents:

George W. Bush: rich kid.
Bill Clinton: poor kid with no father who grew up in Arkansas.
George Bush: rich kid.
Ronald Regan: working stiff before becoming an actor.
Jimmy Carter: from a working-class family in Georgia.
Gerald Ford: middle-class upbringing.
Richard Nixon: from a working-class family in California. Dad a failed farmer and businessman.
Lyndon Johnson: from working-class family in Texas. Used to be a schoolteacher.
John F. Kennedy: rich kid.
Dwight Eisenhower: military background ... rather humble roots in Kansas.
Harry Truman: working stiff from Missouri.

That's eight out of 11 of the past presidents who came from backgrounds ranging from downright humble to middle-class. I know you need tons of money once you get to the point where you want to run for presidents, but the beauty of this country is that there never has been a requirement that you come from some elite background to have the chance.

 

batman, being kind of stupid i can't tell if you're serious with this thread or not.

but people run every year who aren't in one of the two parties. just getting on the ballot in all 50 states is a major effort and will cost thousands of dollars for your campaign committee. and just being on the ballot is more or less useless. even the last two third-party candidates who made a splash had something unique going for them (perot was a billionaire and nader had been crusading for decades) and although nader undoubtedly affected the race, he had zero chance of actually being elected.

so it takes more than just a few great ideas about how to fix everything.

you need the support of several - probably dozens - of behind-the-scenes players who control purse strings of major corporations and who command armies of strategists.

 

Hell, if Michael Moriarty can run for president, you can too: (http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0605/0605moriartypresident.htm)

 

A blue suit and a red tie.

 

I was pretty serious, Leo. I've been thinking about getting into politics for a while, and figured why not shoot for the moon. Unfortunately, my knowledge of building rockets is limited to paper airplanes. I think I have a good philosophy for a campaign. Transparency in government wherever possible, talk in normal language, and govern with common sense. Basically, everything every voter says they want, and politician promises but never delivers. People who have made politics a career are too jaded anymore. Kind of like how we always bitch about readers' complaints, I think a lot of them have tuned out a lot of constituents.
I'd need to come up with a few ideas and issues, but if I did that now things would likely change some in five years anyway. All I've got so far is a plan to phase out social security and curb illegal immigration by going after the businesses that hire them.

On a side note, that might make an interesting story for a reporter somewhere. Everybody and their brother is running for president in 2008, but what the hell do you have to do beyond saying you're running for president? What's the process? Is it as simple as getting signatures on a petition and paying a filing fee? Goes for any elected office. Seems like there's some mystery behind the whole thing, at least to the common man.