The Right Candidate For 2016

Posted by | July 24, 2014 17:20 | Filed under: Contributors Opinion Politics Stuart Shapiro Top Stories


I hadn’t considered him but Alexandra Petri makes some good points:

Well, the polls are in. And Darth Vader is the unofficial 2016 front-runner. All he has to do is throw his hat in the ring throw his helmet in the ringkeep his helmet on so he can breathe and announce his candidacy, and the race is his! First, FiveThirtyEight conducted a poll to find the approval ratings of “Star Wars” characters. And then The Post’s Wonkblogcontrasted those findings with the popularity ratings of likely presidential candidates — and found that Vader was ahead of all of them, from Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee to Rick Santorum and Elizabeth Warren. (So, for that matter, was Boba Fett, although Clinton and the Mandalorian-armored bounty hunter were neck and neck.)

It’s time we took stock of a Vader candidacy.

His first priority would have to be deciding what party to run with. It is probable that he is a Republican — during the George W. Bush era, Dick Cheney and Vader’s mentor, Emperor Palpatine, were frequently associated, at least on bumper stickers — and he is an older white male with what colleagues describe as a “sad devotion” to an “ancient religion.” However, he is also an alien who left his single-parent, female-headed household in the company of hippie strangers to seek a better life on a new planet before turning 18, any element of which the Republican Party might frown on. And he never wields a firearm.

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Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.

16 responses to The Right Candidate For 2016

  1. ChrisVosburg July 24th, 2014 at 17:39

    First things first. Let’s see the birth certificate, buster.

    • R.J. Carter July 24th, 2014 at 17:59

      It’s a fake. See, there’s nothing on the father’s signature line.

      • ChrisVosburg July 24th, 2014 at 18:20

        Oh very good!

        ‘Course, the Vaderator could just hand a blank piece of paper to the registrar at the FEC and then Jedi mind trick him into thinking that it proves Darth was born in Duluth.

        • ChrisVosburg July 24th, 2014 at 19:22

          Come to think of it, that would also explain how come Darth won the popularity contest: “This is the candidate you are looking for…”

  2. ChrisVosburg July 24th, 2014 at 17:39

    First things first. Let’s see the birth certificate, buster.

    • R.J. Carter July 24th, 2014 at 17:59

      It’s a fake. See, there’s nothing on the father’s signature line.

      • ChrisVosburg July 24th, 2014 at 18:20

        Oh very good!

        ‘Course, the Vaderator could just hand a blank piece of paper to the registrar at the FEC and then Jedi mind trick him into thinking that it proves Darth was born in Duluth.

        • ChrisVosburg July 24th, 2014 at 19:22

          Come to think of it, that would also explain how come Luke Skywalker won this little popularity contest (the force is strong in this one): “This is the candidate you are looking for…”

  3. R.J. Carter July 24th, 2014 at 17:59

    In before the first Cheney reference.

  4. R.J. Carter July 24th, 2014 at 17:59

    In before the first Cheney reference.

  5. tiredoftea July 24th, 2014 at 22:22

    Ain’t gonna happen! Ken Ham is already out front on this with declaring aliens to be godless creatures who cannot be saved. He has the bible to prove it.

  6. tiredoftea July 24th, 2014 at 22:22

    Ain’t gonna happen! Ken Ham is already out front on this with declaring aliens to be godless creatures who cannot be saved. He has the bible to prove it.

  7. fancypants July 25th, 2014 at 03:47

    cant wait for the inauguration

  8. fancypants July 25th, 2014 at 03:47

    cant wait for the inauguration

  9. Robert Johnston July 25th, 2014 at 19:37

    And who will the Darth One choose as his potential running-mate?
    Severus Snape?
    Lord Voldermort?
    Lex Luthor?
    Rhett Butler (from Gone With The Wind?

    Palpintine?
    Boba Fett?
    Lando Calrissian?

    Oh, that RIGHT…Darthy-Boy is DECEASED!
    (Met his fate at the end of Return Of The Jedi)
    So…no POTUS-Run for Darth Vader!
    –RKJ

  10. Robert Keith Johnston July 25th, 2014 at 19:37

    And who will the Darth One choose as his potential running-mate?
    Severus Snape?
    Lord Voldermort?
    Lex Luthor?
    Rhett Butler (from Gone With The Wind?

    Palpintine?
    Boba Fett?
    Lando Calrissian?

    Oh, that RIGHT…Darthy-Boy is DECEASED!
    (Met his fate at the end of Return Of The Jedi)
    So…no POTUS-Run for Darth Vader!
    –RKJ

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