Weekend Assignment #231: Candidates With A Difference

"When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday... no matter what happened on Tuesday."

-Stephen Colbert, referring to President George W. Bush

Weekend Assignment #231: Over the years we've had a number of oddball candidates for public office, from cartoon characters to a live pig, from comedians to TV stars to an ex-wrestler. But it's only in recent years that a candidate who doesn't fit the usual profile can run for office and actually expect to win. Who is the most unusual political candidate you have ever supported, either seriously or in just?

Extra Credit: Present politicians excepted, have you ever regretted voting for a candidate, in light of later events?

-Karen Funk Blocher, of the blog, Outpost Mavarin

I guess this my weekend for politics! LOL. See my entry from yesterday! Although as we get closer and closer to the election in November, I expect I will be spending my weekends sharing my political observations. I hope the thought of that doesn't make you run and hide in fear, because I am not always serious when it comes to politics, I can find the humor from time to time, so you never know... maybe I can make you smile.

Anyway, onto the assignment Karen asked us to do. All my life I have been democrat. My first crush in life was on Hubert Humphrey. LOL. SIGH. There was just something about that man. In my teens I admired Jimmy Carter very much, and I still feel that he wasn't given enough time in office to accomplish his goals. As an ex-president, he has been an even greater man, and I still admire him and his work for Habitat For Humanity. I didn't get excited by too many others, until I saw Bill Clinton on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, and I remember Johnny Carson saying that night that we should, "Keep watching Governor Clinton, because one day, he will be president." Johnny was right. I consider him the best president in my lifetime. I know, I know, he is a bit randy... so what? His policies were sound, people could afford to live their lives and he left office with a surplus, not to mention the fact that, while he was in office, we were a happy nation. What could be wrong with that?

But the people I just spoke of were in the mainstream of politics. Karen wants us to discuss the unusual politicians we supported. I was a bit stumped by that request. I haven't ever really gone for the novelty candidates. Although, I was once really intrigued by an episode of Maude I saw as a child were Maude, sick to death with politics as usual, decided to launch a one woman campaign to get Henry Fonda elected to the presidency. Mr. Fonda declined to run, but the thought stuck in my mind that politicians weren't a different species, they were human beings and not really larger then their celebrity. I have since rethought that, lol, and at times I am indeed convinced that they are different species, otherwise how could they do the things they do. Oh, not the affairs, or the scandals, but rather allowing, and sometimes causing the suffering they do, in the name of love.

I thought and thought about the assignment. Had I ever, EVER, considered and alternative to the same old, same old? Then it hit me! How could I have forgotten? Earlier this year, we got a chance, albeit a slim one, that Steven Colbert could have been our other choice in the field of primary candidates. He applied to the Democratic party, and was promptly turned down because he wasn't a seriously viable candidate. I think he also applied to the Republican party, but I don't remember what became of that.

His candidacy didn't last long, but while it was alive, I kept my fingers crossed. And why the hell not? Wouldn't that have been a nice strong statement to send to Washington D.C.? I swear, after the piss poor showing of the democrats and the lunatics some people refer to as the Bush Administration, I was ready for intelligence, and humor again. And intelligent humor for that matter. Google "Stephen Colbert For President" and see what you find. I wasn't alone in the idea of having a really different choice to vote for! So, to answer the question for the assignment, Stephen Colbert is the most unusual candidate I have ever supported, if only for a few weeks anyway. :) I like that man!

Extra Credit: Arnold Schwarzenegger! What the HELL was I thinking trusting that republican? Well, we Californians are like that, we look for talent, and promise, and if it happens to be in the form of a republican, we will listen. I am rethinking that philosophy. I can admit when I have made a mistake, and voting for Schwarzenegger is certainly it! The thing is, considering many of his policies, he leans away from traditional republican ideals. Sometimes I think he might be a democrat at heart, and it simply hasn't occurred to him!

-OndineMonet