Ask Lemmy

Should Jon Stewart run for POTUS? No.

Would I vote for Jon Stewart if he ran for POTUS? Probably.

This says less about my faith in Jon's ability to govern, and more about my lack of faith in current politicians to lead ethically.

I'd rather see Jon make the right decisions but make mistakes, than to see a seasoned politician make the wrong decisions and execute them competently.

I at least have faith Jon is smart enough and with a true compassion in his heart, that he'd be able to surround himself with real experts, listen open mindedly to their advice, and regularly make decisions with empathy.

All that said, he's said repeatedly he doesn't want that job, and I do not blame him.

I grew up watching Jon on The Daily Show. You can love Jon or you can hate him. But that guy used his celebrity status, as well as his own effort, to repeatedly shame, cajole, arm twist, plead with, and petition Congress to fund medical care for the 9/11 first responders. Many of whom suffered long term health issues due to exposure to hazardous materials.

He went to Washington with a group of said first responders and chased down as many Congressmen/women as they could find. He appeared before Congress to testify in support of legislation multiple times.

He did far more for those people than anyone else would. There are plenty of people in the world with power and influence. But there aren't a hell of a lot of them that would use that influence like a fucking hammer to pound out some justice for a bunch of people with no expectation of getting anything in return. For that, he earned my respect.

Hell no!!! I love Jon Stewart, why would I want to see him tortured for four years?

If we want to watch him struggle and age while a system designed not to change thwarts him at every turn, sure.

But I like him too much to elect him president.

I’m not in favor of celebrity moving to politics. Even ones that I think are intelligent. Stewart has long been involved in political mockery and has actual experience in helping a bill get passed, but I think he wouldn’t survive the frustration of being forced to work in DC as President.

There’s a video out there that I can’t find where Stewart is talking to (political science students?) who ask him about his time in DC trying to get the 9/11 First Responders Bill passed and what he thought of politics there. His disgust for real politics and how politicians operate is vividly apparent and borders on revulsion.

I think he’s a good man, but I don’t know that he would be a successful president.

No, but I’d vote for him over any republican traitor shitbag, no question. And he’s better than a lot of career politicians. I just don’t want our politics devolving further into celebrity popularity contests. Do you want President Ye?

Normally for a celebrity I would say no.

Jon is the exception, and I've often spoken about how he would be an excellent President.

He knows, has been involved, and most importantly is disgusted in that knowledge of how the sausage gets made. He knows how to appeal for public support to tear down the institutional obstructions.

Also importantly, I don't think he can be bought. He's walked away from cash cow gigs after he made enough. He isn't infinitely greedy, and that's rare in politics because most of them get into politics explicitly to be bought. I think his combination of institutional knowledge, understanding of today's social ills, demonstrated empathy, and ability to say no to calls of making moooooaaaaaar money make him the ideal candidate.

That's also the problem, because I don't think he'd want it, which makes him an even better choice.

That's the paradox of power, from police all the way to POTUS, the ones that seek it out and fight for it tend to be the worst possible candidates to possess it.

Should he? Probably not. Would he do a better job in office than the idealogicaly brain dead choices being 'weekend at bernies'ed' by the highest paying lobbyists we've had since Citizens United? Absolutely.

Sure. Why the hell not?

From what I've seen of him he is very intelligent, I generally agree with his views, he doesn't seem to have have anger, greed, or vanity issues. I'm not sure his temperament would produce good Commander in Chief decisions but overall he seems like a great candidate.

I'm not opposed to it. He would be an upgrade.

Since politic is a joke let's bring in a professional! Coluche a very famous French comedian declared this during his campaign. He campaigned in the late 70s for the presidential election a blank candidate for the blank voters and really shakes up the entrenched political class. After polling at almost 10% and huge pressure he renounced. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coluche

Another famous comedian who get elected was Zelinsky the current Ukrainian president. His candidacy was seen as a joke by many including Putin. Must be less funny now for him. Not a professional politician and rose up quite well for the challenges.

Jon Stewart has strong principle and sound ethics he would make a better candidate than most of these professional politicians.

Nope, and he doesn't want to. He would not be a good president. What be would be good at is a cabinet position. Maybe even a legislator, though he'd have to figure out how to pick good staff for that job.

If he wanted the job (he doesn't) if I thought that congress wouldn't fight him (they would) if I thought the supreme court would allow most of what he wants to get done get done (they wont) and if I thought he had a better chance than Biden does of getting a second term (I dont) then sure.

Good men like Jon don't seek that kind of power. They don't want it. That's why it's only ever assholes that get it.

You have to step on people to make it up the ladder as a politician. Jon Stewart is not that man.

Go watch the show VEEP and look at literally any character that has some amount of power. It's a pretty good look at the kind of person you have to be at that level of government.

No, because he’s repeatedly said that he has no desire to do it, and that it’s a total indictment of our system that we are looking to a comedian for political leadership, lol. (He’s not wrong!)

No, he would only split the votes for Dems and give Trump an easy win

I think the US would be better off to finally have a president who is one of them. Meaning not rich or famous. Just a regular working class person who isn't well connected.

Seems like every president is rich, well connected, famous or totally bought off and they all end up running the country basically the same way. The only thing that ever changes is the surface level Idpol/who they pander to.

We should be so lucky

No. He's not substantially different than a mainstream Dem.

No, because celebrities are not the ideal people to represent America.

Celebrities become celebrities for a reason. Politicians become politicians for a reason.

Just because there is some overlap in the process, requiring popularity in order to be successful, does not mean that there is any overlap in the skill set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwSts2s4ba4