Have YOU ever thought to run for POTUS?

I have.

Simply enough, there's a set of rules laid out in the Constitution.

Age and Citizenship requirements - US Constitution, Article II, Section 1 No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

That means any citizen can run.

I could.

With interest, a radical idea, I further contemplated the thought.

I found my first hitch.....

Under the terms of the United States Constitution, someone who wants to become the president of America must be a natural born United States citizen who is at least 35 years old and who has lived as a resident of the US for 14 years. These are the only legal requirements for the position, but many people have many expectations of presidential candidates which could be considered informal requirements. Additionally, anyone wanting to run for president must have access to very large sums of money, as a campaign costs a great deal of money.

Like, in the millions of dollars. That eradicates the possibility of a normal citizen serving in that role, right?

Not really.

I have an adversity when someone says impossible. It simply means you haven't researched enough.

Here's a list of all the frontrunners....

It's two years away.

Yeah, It's that far away.

It's time for folks to start locking in their platform.

Honestly, if you had a voice, what platform would you support? Please explain why.

Secondly, with all the issues facing us today, what would be your solution as POTUS? I know it's hypothetical, but if you wanted to address issues facing the country, I think our debt would be first and foremost. Solutions to that? I see none, honestly, save default. I'm a realist.

(Default may happen before 2 years, the end of Obama, but this is all hypothetical. Feel free to add your thoughts. This is a thought problem that has every reason to be solved by the best minds on ATS.)

Have at it.

With you, as POTUS, how would YOU fix things? Keep it real.

reply to post by Druid42


Robert Anton Wilson used to advocate that everyone vote for themselves for president.

reply to post by Druid42


Are you kidding? First off, I wouldn't want the job. You can't do anything right in the eyes of most people and you really don't have the power to do much of anything period. When things are good you get the credit, but when things are bad you are crapped upon. Plus, there is this scrutinizing of everything you've ever done just to run a campaign. I couldn't pass the first round.

I'm not kidding. The constitution of the US provides that any citizen could run. That's me and you.

What my premise is that I'm addressing is that nobody wants the job. Average Joe is content to watch TV. I think we all have good ideas, but we are too chicken-crap to make any recommendations to fix things.

Our economy is in bad shape. Really bad shape.

I'm not asking people to fix things, I'm asking people for suggestions, in this hypothetical scenario......

I'm sadly thinking about the fact that an ordinary citizen couldn't be POTUS in this day and age. A campaign requires millions in donations.

Millions?

Donations?

That's alot of money that's given to you because you promise to uphold the donor's cause.

100k is alot of money to me. I can't comprehend beyond that, but I realize it's just another number. I look at the 16 trillion deficit, and that too, is an incomprehensible number. So yeah, the math is fudged all to heck. QE is a sham, period.

QE prints more money, fiat currency, and the debt grows. It has to stop somewhere.

Well, a normal person has to start from ground zero, and work up from there.

It's sad to think normal people don't care anymore. Really. If explaining becomes too intense, then, it's simply too complicated.

The millions in donations baffle me. A Campaign Budget of 235 million is inane. Am I the only one that sees how wrong that is?

The Constitution did not provide a coffer to new candidates. I would REALLY like to get back to basics.

reply to post by Druid42


Free insurance and security for the rest of my days and all I have to do is be a puppet who pretends to be the puppet master? Okay where do I sign?

Dear God NO! I do NOT wish to have my soul removed... I would probably move on that whole Deathstar idea if I were president... which is just foolish. Besides... I like my privacy too much to step into that whole goatrope in DC.

Offer me some sharks with laser beams on their friggin heads and I may reconsider...

Heck NO! Druid! lol

I'm a bit vain. Have you seen what happens to the Presidents after they took office and the real crap is all laid out on the table? After they learn of the reality of whatever it is going on behind the scenes...

It turns their hair white! The only exception was Bush Jr, but then his daddy already knew and he was prepared in a different way to hold office.

Now me as a woman, (mothering, caring instincts always at full kilter) - now I'm responsible for not just my own children, but the entire nation is mine to make the most moral, ethical, best decision for them....

So they sit me down in the oval office, lay it all out - and I guarantee you....

I'll go all mama bear pissed and they'd have to put me down. I'd get bullet in the head for sure!

CdT

I thought about it. Not too seriously though. I just started thinking about all the mudslinging and stuff they would bring up. All the normal stuff that kids do and people do and how they would just lie about you and drag your name through the mud. It would be a horrible experience. You wouldn't have enough strength left to govern after going through all that. Someone brings up on bad, old photograph of you in a bad light of something that you maybe did one time or that one time you got really drunk at that one party and that one girl that you dated and never called when you were in college that would love to tell the nation about how you really are. Then when you misspeak one time. Like Romney with Binders full of Women. I'm not defending Romney or a Romney supporter but...well that wasn't really a real issue and it really did hurt him. Then when you have one position and then learn more about it and change your position based on the new evidence...they call it waffling. In any other part of your life, they call it learning or even learning from your mistakes. And then to turn on the radio or TV and depending on which party you hear Hannity blasting you and threatening to leave the state, or Maher cursing at you on HBO. lol You can't win. Even if you were the greatest president ever. IN this climate? I couldn't do it.

reply to post by TheLieWeLive


Methinks you're missing the point. You get 245k per year after 4 years of service, until you die, as a retirement. It's paid by citizens of the USA, in our tax dollars. That's not in the Constitution, but in the additions Congress has added. You also get taxpayer funded Secret Service personnel after you leave office, a duty roster assigned to you just for being POTUS.

Taxpayers pay for this, US citizens who work hard in their jobs, and pay their taxes. The things normal citizens see their tax dollars go to?

I won't answer that.

You will have to. Decide for yourself if you like how your tax dollars are spent.

reply to post by amazing


You've nailed it.

If you stood up as an American Citizen, they'd rake you to the ground and tear you apart. No Chance.

They? The empirical folks? Nope.

Here's where I believe I MAY cause waves. Your own worst enemy is your fellow citizen. It's not because they hate you, it's because you can't agree.

There's no uniformity. There's a lack of solidarity. There's too many viable methods of uniting people to a common cause, but no drive behind it. Call it OWS, call it the Tea Party, call it the Libertarian Movement. It will never work. The establishment is rooted too firmly.

But is it? Is there a solution?

No thanks .. I like my freedom and enjoy my retirement. Have no need for the stress .. and with the policies Id enact would end up with a big bullseye on me.. i.e - NO more aid to israel make them pay back with interest every cent they got over the years .. end the illegal /immoral wars shut down all overseas military bases .. dump obummacare .. rebuild infrastructure in the country .. improve the education system .. fully restore the constitution .. disband dhs , tsa etc .. think on the betting pools in vegas would have a survival chance of under 24 hours in office ..

reply to post by Druid42


I cannot see our nation having a future as One Nation with One Viewpoint. It just wouldn't happen. I can, however, see our nation being a strong nation of United States, and I can see certain cities like New York, Seattle and Portland developing healthy and strong regional cultures.

Why hold that back and confuse everyone by trying to have one unified culture that will never work and simply polarizes and changes so much that it becomes impossible to keep track of what the laws are? Diversifying into multiple cities and states sounds much better.

Really - wouldn't you rather be living in a city and vote for the Mayor and have a real chance to be on the different boards if you were interested and qualified enough and know that it made a difference? And why should someone like the President of the United States be responsible for the laws governing all 250 million people?

In this day and age, that is too damn hard, not even possible. So delegate. I think we need to re-arrange our system quite a bit so that the National Laws are much less imposing on state laws, and the states are less imposing on local laws - in other words, basically turn it all upside-down.

Oh sure but how much flexibility to do what "one wants" is there?

I think it must be very frustrating being the prez, im sure theres lots of things you want to do that basically you have no real power to do.

You are just a people buffer, a charismatic link between the governments boffins and military to the citizens you dont write your speeches you get handed them, you dont like who you like you like who you are told to like.

Id rather be "the government" than the prez any day

Ohhhhh you guys would hate me within a year.
HATE ME.

I meet those requirements very easily, true. Plus I actually enjoy reading the constitution. Doesn't mean its the job I need to be doing.

I'd run on a veterans platform, and ufo disclosure...
But alas, I'm a convicted felon, I'm not allowed to run...

reply to post by Druid42


Have YOU ever thought to run for POTUS?

Yes

When I was like 5 years old.

It was right behind wanting to be a fireman [Big loud red trucks... VROOOOMMM...]

I have thought about it.
But then I end up thinking about what would happen if I actually made it.
I would be assassinated fairly quickly I think.
If you push for lobbing to become illegal, and give the power back to the people, there will be too many people that want you dead.

I wouldn't be able to sustain the fake grin. You would imediately see my disdain for the position.

HELL no I wouldnt want to and HELL NO I wouldnt even be voted in. I cant be bought, Im a bone head, I fight, Im female..... Id be assassinated!