It has been noted that while there are 17 Republican candidates for the nomination, of which 10 have been declared serious by FOX News via the first debate, there are far less democratic candidates for the nomination and only one has been declared serious by the powers that be. This may change if Biden runs.
I want to suggest two Democrats who I think should run. They have not made ANY moves in that direction, so it won't happen... until they see that this blog post endorsing them and they get inspired!
Rush Holt. Was a US Congressman from NJ (NOTE- earlier version of this post incorrectly had him as a US Senator from WV which his father was. Thanks to Dave MB comment for pointing that out.) He has a PhD in Physics. I want a president who wins a Nobel Prize in something OTHER THAN Peace (T. Roosevelt, Wilson, Carter, Obama have won it for peace, fictional Bartlett on West Wing won if for Economics). I can imagine one winning for Literature. But Physics- that would be awesome! While I doubt Dr. Holt will win one, it would be good to have someone as Prez who knows SOME science so he won't say stupid things about global warning. (Counter question- do the climate change deniers in the Senate really believe what they are saying or not?) He's also a Quaker, not sure how that plays into all of this. (I had a longer and incorrect passage here, but thanks to Andy P's comment below I changed it and it is now correct--- I hope.)
Would having a scientist in the Whitehouse be good for Science Funding? I would guess a marginal yes. Would it improve my chance of getting my REU grant renewed? I would guess no.
Sheldon Whitehouse. US Senator from Rhode Island. Look at his name- he was born to be Prez!
You may think these are stupid criteria. You may be right. But is it any better than I voted for X in the primary since X has a better chance of winning in the general (One of Clinton's arguments against Obama in 2008 was that Obama couldn't win since... well, you know) or he looks just like a prez (Warren Harding's main qualification) or he's Rich and obnoxious (I would say who I am thinking of, but he's been known to sue people).
Germany beat us to it; Angela Merkel has a PhD in physics.
ReplyDeleteDr. Rush Holt Jr. is not and never has been a US Senator. His father, Rush Holt Sr., was a US Senator from West Virginia, but Rush Jr. was a congressman from NJ from 1999 through last January. He retired after losing NJ's 2014 Democratic Senate primary to Cory Booker.
ReplyDeleteWe would certainly be better off if Rush Jr. were the most famous American named "Rush".
Thanks for the correction- I have fixed the post.
DeleteIt's only partially fixed! There are still a number of references to him being in the Senate. In "fact" (ie according to Wikipedia), Rush Holt Jr is no longer in Congress, and when he was, he was the only Quaker, and one of two Physicists.
DeleteIn theory I'm in favor of Quakers in office -- I'm a Quaker! But in fact, the two Quaker presidents so far have been Hoover and Nixon, and neither turned out too well for the country. I think it ends up being fairly un-Quakerly to run for high office, so the "good" ones don't do it too often.
I think you still need to make more fixes later in that paragraph where Senate is mentioned.
DeleteThanks to Andy P- I have fixed the passage.
ReplyDelete