Given these options among candidates, for whom would you vote?

[saw]

I was talking about the upcoming US election with my children the other day (tricky since we don't live in the States and they don't hear much about it) and my son (6) informed me that he would vote for King Richard the Lionheart, his hero. So who would you vote for for President, if you could vote for anyone at all? Meaning fictional/non-fictional, dead/alive, American/non-American?

[RoughCollie]

Bill Gates

[Momto4kids]

I was talking about the upcoming US election with my children the other day (tricky since we don't live in the States and they don't hear much about it) and my son (6) informed me that he would vote for King Richard the Lionheart, his hero. So who would you vote for for President, if you could vote for anyone at all? Meaning fictional/non-fictional, dead/alive, American/non-American?

Jesus. :001_smile:

[Sue G in PA]

Jesus. :001_smile:

AMEN!

[Dot]

nt

[Soph the vet]

Jesus Christ. The sooner the better.

[JFS in IL]

and he better look just like Viggo!

[Karen sn]

Anyone who believes in homebirth, homeschooling, homegrown food or
Jesus, Robin Williams, my mother.

[Mad Charity]

Other than Ron Paul, I would choose Karen Armstrong and my dad.

[chiguirre]

FDR, I think we might need him again.

[Virginia Dawn]

:iagree:

Ron Paul too, I'm not so sure Jesus would take the job.

Maybe C.S. Lewis.

[Jenn in Mo]

Ron Paul.

Seriously - the man is my hero.

[nukeswife]

I would pick Dave, the character played by Kevin Klein in the Movie Dave.

[homewithtrinity]

Jesus....I sure wish Huckabee had won the nomination.

[Parabola]

Bill Hicks

Dennis Kucinich

Richard Dawkins

Albert Einstein

Jane Goodall

Al Gore

Rachel Carson

Maynard Keenan

Kim Stanley Robinson

Tom Robbins

Marie Curie

Socrates

And I have a "Jon Stewart for President 2008" t shirt.

[AmyinPA]

I was just a little girl when he was pres...but he's since become one of my heros.

[mamalotsoftots]

LOL Amy I immediately thought the same. Wouldn,t it be nice to have ol' Ronnie back :)

[Pencil Pusher]

I was talking about the upcoming US election with my children the other day (tricky since we don't live in the States and they don't hear much about it) and my son (6) informed me that he would vote for King Richard the Lionheart, his hero. So who would you vote for for President, if you could vote for anyone at all? Meaning fictional/non-fictional, dead/alive, American/non-American?

Hm. I thought King Richard was supposed to be AWESOME. We read about him in SOTW, & ds7 wasn't impressed. (I mean, he did keep running off & fighting about silly things, but surely that's a small part of the story. It's not part of Disney's Robin Hood, for crying out loud!)

So I complained to dh (hist major) about ds's lack of enthusiasm for poor Rich. Dh said he was one of England's worst kings ever, & if it hadn't been for his bro, John, who was so much worse, he'd have been remembered as a bad king.

So, I was in the camp w/ your ds. I mean, I don't know that I would have *voted* for him or anything, but King Richard was awesome. I'm so bummed now. :glare:

[Krista in LA]

I think I'd vote for Ben Franklin.
If I had to pick someone who's alive, probably Ron Paul.

[AussieInWyoming]

(not yet a US citizen) ... it would be Ron Paul all the way!!!! My husband is still intending to vote for this fine man even though he is not the Republicans' "chosen one".

Elaine

[Tutor]

Alive: Ron Paul

Dead: John Adams (or Abagail Adams... she's my hero)

[LizzyBee]

Ronald Reagan

[Jenny in Atl]

Maynard Keenan

Ok, next to Thom Yorke... Maynard is the man!

But seriously, those of you who like Ron Paul.. have you thought about Bill Barr's possible run on the Libertarian ticket?
http://www.bobbarr.org/

[Chris in VA]

Didn't even one of you state the obvious?


Susan Wise Bauer!


:lol:



Ok, not really. Sorry, Susan.

[mcconnellboys]

Hmmmmm, alive - Stephen Hawking; deceased - Gandhi.....

[Mamagistra]

Other than Ron Paul, I would choose Karen Armstrong and my dad.

:iagree:

Oh...wait! I thought that said karenciavo!:lol::lol: If she were elected, I bet I could get Taylor Pork Roll year-round! :hurray:

[OnTheBrink]

Jesus
Ronald Reagan
Steve Jobs
Kevin Klines "Dave" character. I love that movie. LOL

[Cindyg]

Can't believe no one has nominated George Washington! From all I've read, he seems to have been a great American and a selfless leader.

[E_Edgerton]

Thomas Sowell for President!

[Liberty]

Thomas Sowell for President!


I'll 2nd that!

[PariSarah]

Mr. Darcy, Thomas Aquinas, and Martin of Tours.

[Eliana]

Hm. I thought King Richard was supposed to be AWESOME. We read about him in SOTW, & ds7 wasn't impressed. (I mean, he did keep running off & fighting about silly things, but surely that's a small part of the story. It's not part of Disney's Robin Hood, for crying out loud!)

So I complained to dh (hist major) about ds's lack of enthusiasm for poor Rich. Dh said he was one of England's worst kings ever, & if it hadn't been for his bro, John, who was so much worse, he'd have been remembered as a bad king.

So, I was in the camp w/ your ds. I mean, I don't know that I would have *voted* for him or anything, but King Richard was awesome. I'm so bummed now. :glare:

Eeek! Imnsho, Richard was *horrible* as a king and, honestly, as a person. ... and he did such harm to England. I get all hot around the collar when I encounter the mythological Richard... and then poor John getting so much worse a name than he deserved.

John was actually a *much* better king - but he both inherited a lousy situation *and* since he was, for most of the time, ruling just England (after the French territories were lost) he was *around* so much more... folks had gotten ideas you see with all the unsupervised time they had with Richard gone for most of his kingship.


When PHP was doing the bio contest, I got about halfway through a bio of King John, but real life got in the way.... *sigh*.

A really well done adult-level bio is W.L. Warren's King John (http://www.amazon.com/King-John-English-Monarchs-Warren/dp/0520036433/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207799148&sr=1-2)... for a fictional view (based largely on the Warren bio) Sharon Kay Penman's Here be Dragons (http://www.amazon.com/Here-Dragons-Sharon-Kay-Penman/dp/0345382846/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207799187&sr=1-2) gets some things very right (there's a lot of stuff in her books I have to skip - to much detail for me - and though she gets so many of her facts right, they are very much romantic books with a very modern flavor, imho.).


If you will indulge me...

Some quotes from the book:

"The persisting images are of Henry [II] as a strong and beneficent ruler, of Richard as a glamorous hero, and of John as a villainous failure; but these sharp contrasts reflect the attitudes of the more influential of the chroniclers rather than real differences of personality. the dominant impression of Henry is closest to reality, that of John furthest removed. All three, as a matter of fact, were heartily disliked by many people in their own day - for they were hard and domineering men - but a considered judgment was passed on henry by chroniclers of perspicacity and sound historical sense, Richard's reputation was glorified by an enthusiastic hero-worshipper [sic], while John's was blighted by scurrilous gossip-mongers"

"Like his father, Richard was very generally disliked in his own day. He was an ungracious boor who added sodomy, it was believed, to the normal carnal indulgences of a prince. He was obsessed by fighting and preferred was itself to tournaments. Gerald of Wales held that 'he cared for no success that was not reached by a path cur by his own sword and stained with the blood of his adversaries.' He was lionhearted, but soulless. he was by no means unintelligent, and, as with his father and brother, such abilities as he possessed were out of the ordinary; but of the three he was the most limited. Warcraft was his specialty and everything else was sacrificed to indulging it...

"Men respected his skill and his strategic sense, but there was little for which to love him. he might seem heroic at a distance - on crusade, or in captivity in Germany - but those who lived under his rule received news of his death with relief. Death dealt kindly with him, however, and his reputation, so precarious while he lived, was retrieved by the starry-eyed panegyrist of The Journey of the Crusaders. there he is extolled, with the accompaniment of every rhetorical device ,as a leader comparable to a hero of classical epic or a chanson de geste. hence, though he went to an unmourned grave, he was hardly cold in it before the gallant crusader began to displace the harsh, cold warrior as the persisting image."

**Please note that the disparaging reference to Richard's possible/probable s*xual preferences reflect the viewpoint of Richard's time, and, possibly of the time it was written in (it was 1st published in 1961), not my sentiments.**

[Eliana]

I thought of Rudolph Rassendyl and the Scarlet Pimpernel ... but they were both too autocratic.

I thought of Shlomo Hamelech and Moshe Rabbeinu (King Solomon and Moses), but I don't want a theocracy here.

After some more flailing around, I realized that the candidate I most want, is the one I am supporting in this election: Senator Obama. I think it takes a candidate of this time and generation to be the right leader for this time and generation - and I believe, as I never thought I could believe, that we have the potential to change how politics happens here.. and how we work together as a nation.

[Chris in CA]

: ) yes

[Diana in OR]

Well, I would vote for my dh. He's the smartest guy I know. ;)

My other choices would be JFK or Abraham Lincoln. :hat:

[Amy in Orlando]

I'd vote for David Palmer. (from the show 24)

[Momto4kids]

I'd vote for David Palmer. (from the show 24)

<snicker, snicker> ok this made me laugh because I really liked him on 24 too. :lol:

[Amy in Orlando]

<snicker, snicker> ok this made me laugh because I really liked him on 24 too. :lol:

Wouldn't he just be the best - minus Sherry, of course? How do we lure him away from his AllState commercials?

[Virginia Dawn]

Thomas Sowell for President!


Hey! I think I could go for that too.