Open Ballot

Scott Hardie | August 2, 2015
If you could will any living American at all to run for president, who would you choose, and why?

Samir Mehta | August 2, 2015
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | August 2, 2015
Your preference.

Steve West | August 2, 2015
I always thought Peter Ueberroth was a viable candidate but the voters of California didn't think so when he ran for governor in 2003. He ran as an Independent even though he was a registered Republican which probably cost him a lot of votes. He withdrew from the race and still gathered enough votes to finish sixth. I like that he would bring a businessman's view to the Oval Office as opposed to a career politician. The fact that he's 78 is a little worrisome but he appears a vital guy who is still a director of the Coca-Cola Company, a director of the Hilton Hotels Corporation and co-chairman of the Pebble Beach Company.

Scott Hardie | August 6, 2015
Good answer, Steve.

During a conversation among friends, one was adamant that Scott Pelley, the CBS news anchor, would make a terrific president, mostly because he looks presidential. "He has interviewed heads of state! That's foreign policy experience right there!" When the rest of us scoffed, he said he'd really vote for Pelley if he could get Pelley to run. So he asked us who we'd pick.

Off the top of my head, I said Neil deGrasse Tyson, because Cosmos and the carbon dioxide problem were fresh on my mind. A President Tyson would definitely prioritize climate change over all others (except maybe putting Carl Sagan on Mount Rushmore), and he seems like he'd have the scientific knowledge to debunk the arguments of his opponents, and he seems like he'd have a comfortable rapport with the American people to drum up support. But I say "seems" because opposition has a funny way of shoring up on any issue, no matter how one-sided it starts. Anyway, I haven't thought of a better answer than Tyson since, but I keep considering it.