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Football player for Governor

OutThere said:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2006/01/04/Sports/swann_governor060104.html

Is there any reason why celebrities think that they are qualified to run for public office, and then why the public thinks that celebrities would make worthwhile governors? 🙄 😕
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I think the appeal is that they are "newcomers", not tainted by political corruption...yet. People are losing faith in politicians, so when outsiders run for office, they are very appealing. Unfortunately, the only people rich/popular enough to run for office are sports heros or actors.
😱
 
OutThere said:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2006/01/04/Sports/swann_governor060104.html

Is there any reason why celebrities think that they are qualified to run for public office, and then why the public thinks that celebrities would make worthwhile governors? 🙄 😕
Click to expand...

Why do you assume that political (as opposed to public service) jobs requre special qualifications -- other than appeal, charisma, and the ability to get elected?

Why do we think that a football player and broadcaster is less qualified than a lawyer or a corporate president or CEO?

We have appointed two broadcasters in a row to the vice-regal position in Canada, and an actor was US president. No comment on the qualifications of currently serving heads of state...
 
I saw him at a small event a couple of months ago. Said a few words shook his hand. Suprisingly short. Seemed like a nice guy.

As for qualifications while playing a sport doesn't qualify you for anything much beyond showing off scars, he has been active in charity work and some small business enterprises.

He has to go through 2 elections to become governor and name recognition only gets you so far. Especially in the primary where you have reach out to party faithful.
 
I would rather have a former football star running Govt then a Lawyer. Lawyers have corrupted our legal system and our govt. Plus they have rigged the whole system so they can get big $$$ for doing nothing.
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
I would rather have former football star running Govt then a Lawyer. Lawyers have corrupted our legal system and our govt. Plus they have rigged the whole system so they can get big $$$ for doing nothing.
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Yeah, having lawyers writing laws really is like leaving the fox to guard the henhouse.
 
In recent memory, Jack Kemp (former NFL player) was the 1996 Republican nominee for Vice President and Bill Bradley (former NBA player) ran for President in 2000. Both were senators and very respected. Throwing blanket statements around about athletes running for office shows your ignorance.
 
live from PA

Actually, he is running against a very successful and popular Democrat. The Republicans are basically trying to find someone with A) name recognition B) no affiliation to Philadelphia and C) minority.

They've done this in a few other places too (cough, cough, Illinois, cough, cough, Keyes, cough, cough)

It's too bad they picked Lynn Swan, he's actually a pretty nice guy.
 
Phat Elvis said:
Actually, he is running against a very successful and popular Democrat. The Republicans are basically trying to find someone with A) name recognition B) no affiliation to Philadelphia and C) minority.

They've done this in a few other places too (cough, cough, Illinois, cough, cough, Keyes, cough, cough)

It's too bad they picked Lynn Swan, he's actually a pretty nice guy.
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You mean Rendell isn't running for re-election?
 
Phat Elvis said:
Actually, he is running against a very successful and popular Democrat. The Republicans are basically trying to find someone with A) name recognition B) no affiliation to Philadelphia and C) minority.

They've done this in a few other places too (cough, cough, Illinois, cough, cough, Keyes, cough, cough)

It's too bad they picked Lynn Swan, he's actually a pretty nice guy.
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You know, not all Black Republicans are "Uncle Toms" that the GOP throws in there in an attempt to win votes. That's an offensive blanket statement to make about Republicans and African Americans. That said, the irony with Keyes is that he was vehemently against carpetbagging, but did the same thing himself in 2004. On a final note, your B point is a moot one since Philadelphia is a city and he's running for Governor, not mayor. He does have affiliations with the state.
 
skunk said:
Didn't lawyers draft your Constitution?
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James Madison studied law along with natural history, but was never a lawyer. Alexander Hamilton never studied law nor was a lawyer.
 
Phat Elvis said:
Actually, he is running against a very successful and popular Democrat. The Republicans are basically trying to find someone with A) name recognition B) no affiliation to Philadelphia and C) minority.

They've done this in a few other places too (cough, cough, Illinois, cough, cough, Keyes, cough, cough)

It's too bad they picked Lynn Swann, he's actually a pretty nice guy.
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Well, most governors have come from the Scranton area, so it's unusual for them not to have someone in control.

It would be great to see a very goal-oriented nice guy to get into the governor's office. Maybe someday, the commonwealth will also have common wealth and get into the 21st century.

(For a moment, I thought this was an old story about EA putting Governor Jeb Bush into Madden 2006.)
 
jayscheuerle said:
Rendell's a democrat. Swann's running as a republican.
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I know. I asked if Rendell wasn't running for re-election because Phat Elvis said Swann would be running against a popular and successful Democrat.
 
Well, if Rendell decides not to run for re-election, then obviously what the Democrats want to do is draft a really good cornerback.
 
PA statewide politics are a little wierd, in that the eastern and western parts of the state are very different, and tend to vote for the "locals".

Republicans like to find candidates that are not from the Philly area because it is about 90% Democrat. Thus, if they nominate a Philly Republican, they miss out on the "native son" votes for that candidate.

While Republicans do have a poor reputation in race relations, there is the obvious incentive for them to nominate minority candidates, in hopes of converting swing minority voters.

While Swann is a political novice, I think he has a good chance, mainly because Rendell hasn't had many high-profile successes. (He has spent most of his time cleaning up the mess created when Tom Ridge left to become Homeland Security Director, and the state was left on auto-pilot for 1 1/2 years).

Basically, this is going to be a major year in PA state politics, due to an unconstitutional pay-raise for the state's judge's and legislaters that has resulted in a major backlash.
 
MongoTheGeek said:
I know. I asked if Rendell wasn't running for re-election because Phat Elvis said Swann would be running against a popular and successful Democrat.
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Ah... Well, I'm from Philadelphia and that's exactly the way we see Rendell. He's the best thing that's happened to this city since Ed Bacon, but unfortunately as governor he's had to deal with Pennsyltucky and ironically for Swann, Pennsyltucky is not very likely to vote for a black man, republican or not. I've encountered more ignorance based racism in central Pennsylvania than I've anywhere since living in Texas.
 
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