this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2024

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101

Do you think Jon Stewart should run for president of the United States? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by TehBamski@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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[–] ApostleO@startrek.website 113 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Should Jon Stewart run for POTUS? No.

Would I vote for Jon Stewart if he ran for POTUS? Probably.

This says less about my faith in Jon's ability to govern, and more about my lack of faith in current politicians to lead ethically.

I'd rather see Jon make the right decisions but make mistakes, than to see a seasoned politician make the wrong decisions and execute them competently.

I at least have faith Jon is smart enough and with a true compassion in his heart, that he'd be able to surround himself with real experts, listen open mindedly to their advice, and regularly make decisions with empathy.

All that said, he's said repeatedly he doesn't want that job, and I do not blame him.

[–] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 29 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

To second this, I'd like Jon to keep doing the great work he's doing, and I'd like people with similar levels of integrity and thoughtfulness who are interested and good at political activism to rise through politics and lead.

It's a sad state of affairs in which we ask these questions, because it's just an indication that we're myopically focused on people with enough name recognition to discuss them.

You know who would be better considerations for president? Katie Porter. Ro Khanna. Maybe eventually Lina Khan. Despite what we're told, there ARE people with experience leading political agencies who have shown an understanding of the back doors that have been built into our power structures and show the integrity to fight against it.

The funny thing is that when people think about potential populists for president, we get options like AOC (who I admire, but is famous more than experienced), but we don't get enough people like Barbara Lee, who is the only member of congress who said "NO" to the PATRIOT Act, the War on Iraq, and the Authorization of Use of Military force that gave us the war in Afghanistan and our whole permanent war in the middle east. The woman is an absolute lion of courage and has decades of experience. She's currently running for Senate, and she has my vote because she's the only one in the race calling with the courage to call for a ceasefire in Palestine.

I love Stewart. But we need to look past the famous towards the people who've been quietly doing this work for many years.

[–] ApostleO@startrek.website 5 points 9 months ago

That is the problem with representative democracy when each rep accounts for nearly a million citizens. You're at the whims of such a massive voting base. Name recognition is pretty much the only thing that matters at that scale.

It's like modern marketing and advertising. Half the time, they don't even say anything about their service. They just want you to remember the name and recognize the logo if you see it in a store.

[–] phillaholic@lemm.ee 9 points 9 months ago

Jon is a smart man. If he were to become President, he would have to make the same kind of hard decisions that Obama made that were unpopular among the public. Being a world leader is like that ethics question of changing the direction of a train to run over 1 person vs 10.

[–] xkforce@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No one that wants that job should be allowed to.

[–] ApostleO@startrek.website 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

For that very reason, I sometimes imagine a world where public office is handled like jury duty, picked semi-randomly.

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[–] jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works 37 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I grew up watching Jon on The Daily Show. You can love Jon or you can hate him. But that guy used his celebrity status, as well as his own effort, to repeatedly shame, cajole, arm twist, plead with, and petition Congress to fund medical care for the 9/11 first responders. Many of whom suffered long term health issues due to exposure to hazardous materials.

He went to Washington with a group of said first responders and chased down as many Congressmen/women as they could find. He appeared before Congress to testify in support of legislation multiple times.

He did far more for those people than anyone else would. There are plenty of people in the world with power and influence. But there aren't a hell of a lot of them that would use that influence like a fucking hammer to pound out some justice for a bunch of people with no expectation of getting anything in return. For that, he earned my respect.

[–] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 33 points 9 months ago

Hell no!!! I love Jon Stewart, why would I want to see him tortured for four years?

[–] RememberTheApollo@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I’m not in favor of celebrity moving to politics. Even ones that I think are intelligent. Stewart has long been involved in political mockery and has actual experience in helping a bill get passed, but I think he wouldn’t survive the frustration of being forced to work in DC as President.

There’s a video out there that I can’t find where Stewart is talking to (political science students?) who ask him about his time in DC trying to get the 9/11 First Responders Bill passed and what he thought of politics there. His disgust for real politics and how politicians operate is vividly apparent and borders on revulsion.

I think he’s a good man, but I don’t know that he would be a successful president.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

not particularly invested in this comment but isn't the concept of "politician" essentially just "celebrity" nowadays anyway?

That someone has access to money and influence, can use those to set policy and maintain/secure both in-party and general-public votes. What's the difference between politician and celebrity there? One could argue that experience in setting policy and/or studying law, but that doesn't apply to a whole range of politicians anyway.

[–] RememberTheApollo@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

I think the lines are blurred, sure. However there are plenty of politicians that really just kind of do their job and stay out of the limelight, whereas celebrities are by default in the public eye. Also, the biggest difference is the part where you vote for a politician and they set policy. I don’t vote for celebs, and I don’t call them telling me what to wear or watch “policy”. We’ve had 2 legit celebrity presidents and they’ve both been disastrous.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Might be observation bias. You hear about the morons who can't shut up.

[–] agitatedpotato@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

Should he? Probably not. Would he do a better job in office than the idealogicaly brain dead choices being 'weekend at bernies'ed' by the highest paying lobbyists we've had since Citizens United? Absolutely.

[–] AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Normally for a celebrity I would say no.

Jon is the exception, and I've often spoken about how he would be an excellent President.

He knows, has been involved, and most importantly is disgusted in that knowledge of how the sausage gets made. He knows how to appeal for public support to tear down the institutional obstructions.

Also importantly, I don't think he can be bought. He's walked away from cash cow gigs after he made enough. He isn't infinitely greedy, and that's rare in politics because most of them get into politics explicitly to be bought. I think his combination of institutional knowledge, understanding of today's social ills, demonstrated empathy, and ability to say no to calls of making moooooaaaaaar money make him the ideal candidate.

That's also the problem, because I don't think he'd want it, which makes him an even better choice.

That's the paradox of power, from police all the way to POTUS, the ones that seek it out and fight for it tend to be the worst possible candidates to possess it.

[–] tiggidyty@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

Sure. Why the hell not?

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

From what I've seen of him he is very intelligent, I generally agree with his views, he doesn't seem to have have anger, greed, or vanity issues. I'm not sure his temperament would produce good Commander in Chief decisions but overall he seems like a great candidate.

[–] douglasg14b@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Is that because of who he is or because of his TV personality?

How about we stop encouraging celebrities to hold political office...?

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 1 points 9 months ago

I've only seen a few minutes of him on TV. I can't think of many politicians whose positions I like and who wouldn't bow to corporations.

[–] skhayfa@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

Since politic is a joke let's bring in a professional! Coluche a very famous French comedian declared this during his campaign. He campaigned in the late 70s for the presidential election a blank candidate for the blank voters and really shakes up the entrenched political class. After polling at almost 10% and huge pressure he renounced. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coluche

Another famous comedian who get elected was Zelinsky the current Ukrainian president. His candidacy was seen as a joke by many including Putin. Must be less funny now for him. Not a professional politician and rose up quite well for the challenges.

Jon Stewart has strong principle and sound ethics he would make a better candidate than most of these professional politicians.

[–] AgentGrimstone@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

I'm not opposed to it. He would be an upgrade.

[–] xkforce@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

If he wanted the job (he doesn't) if I thought that congress wouldn't fight him (they would) if I thought the supreme court would allow most of what he wants to get done get done (they wont) and if I thought he had a better chance than Biden does of getting a second term (I dont) then sure.

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Nope, and he doesn't want to. He would not be a good president. What be would be good at is a cabinet position. Maybe even a legislator, though he'd have to figure out how to pick good staff for that job.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Is Zelenskyy a good president?

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Honestly? Under the circumstances, I’d say he’s an outstanding president overall.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

And what would you say his primary qualifications and experience were before his election?

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[–] bradorsomething@ttrpg.network 2 points 9 months ago

He’s their Lincoln.

[–] Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Good men like Jon don't seek that kind of power. They don't want it. That's why it's only ever assholes that get it.

You have to step on people to make it up the ladder as a politician. Jon Stewart is not that man.

Go watch the show VEEP and look at literally any character that has some amount of power. It's a pretty good look at the kind of person you have to be at that level of government.

[–] Surp@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Do you have experience in government to be able to claim that veep is a good example of how it goes?

[–] maxy@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

I've worked in several states legislatures and have some limited experience working with congressional politicians. Most people I know agree that Veep is one of the more accurate depictions of the kind of people who work in politics. It's obviously exaggerated for entertainment and there's not nearly as much wacky hijinx, but it's pretty relatable to anyone working with politicians.

[–] cleanandsunny 6 points 9 months ago

No, because he’s repeatedly said that he has no desire to do it, and that it’s a total indictment of our system that we are looking to a comedian for political leadership, lol. (He’s not wrong!)

[–] xarexyouxmadx@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

I think the US would be better off to finally have a president who is one of them. Meaning not rich or famous. Just a regular working class person who isn't well connected.

Seems like every president is rich, well connected, famous or totally bought off and they all end up running the country basically the same way. The only thing that ever changes is the surface level Idpol/who they pander to.

[–] Cheesus@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

No, he would only split the votes for Dems and give Trump an easy win

[–] AshMan85@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Op did not specify this election

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[–] turkalino@lemmy.yachts 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ah yes, the token argument that establishment Democrats use when a reasonable candidate who isn't theirs comes along

[–] Cheesus@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You think Biden running on the democratic ticket, trump on the republican, and Stewart on an independent ticket would have no impact on the election for Democrats?

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 9 months ago

I would expect him to run against Biden in the democratic primary and not pursue the office as an independent if he lost, like Bernie did.

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[–] hal_5700X@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwSts2s4ba4

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[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 9 months ago

I'd vote for him

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

We should be so lucky

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Would rather he didn't but I doubt I will ever vote R for any position above dogcatcher ever again. So if he wins the primary I would end up voting for him.

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