December 6 2023, 6:00 a.m. (TheIntercept.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n SHOULD LIBERALS<\/strong> \u2014 i.e., America\u2019s jambalaya of FDR-heads, radicals in name only, organizers with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and even normcore Democrats \u2014 try to get Jon Stewart to run for president?<\/p>\n\n\n\n An affirmative response comes from Jeff Cohen, the founder<\/a> of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and former director of Ithaca College\u2019s Park Center for Independent Media. Stewart rose to stardom as host of \u201cThe Daily Show\u201d on Comedy Central, and after stepping down in 2015, he returned to TV in 2021 in \u201cThe Problem With Jon Stewart\u201d (which Apple TV recently canceled<\/a>). Cohen makes the case here<\/a>, in a column, and here<\/a>, in an interview with Salon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether or not Stewart will run for president, Cohen convincingly explains why he should. His arguments about this apply beyond the specifics of Stewart and suggest that what Democrats truly need is more funny celebrities running for office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First of all, this kind of brainstorming should be the norm instead of the exception in progressive U.S. politics. For a society that comes up with a new, crucial form of social media every month, it\u2019s notable how stultifying our politics are. It\u2019s not just that there\u2019s never any outside-of-the-box thinking, it\u2019s that the box itself is a cube 2 inches on each side. You can still go to protest rallies and hear people chanting, \u201cThe people, united, will never be defeated.\u201d This may be new and appealing for younger activists, but it\u2019s 50 years old, from another country (Chile), and doesn\u2019t rhyme in English \u2014 all a measure of how there hasn\u2019t been a lot of recent new work in this area.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, let\u2019s face it, America loves celebrities. Republicans understand this and utilize it. Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump could never have become president without first achieving their chintzy forms of fame. When Reagan was asked why being an actor was a suitable preparation for politics, he astutely observed that he didn\u2019t understand how anyone could be an effective politician who wasn\u2019t an actor.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Other GOP candidates who\u2019ve ridden preexisting renown into office include George Murphy (senator from California), Arnold Schwarzenegger (governor of California), Tommy Tuberville (senator from Alabama), Sonny Bono (representative from California), and even Fred Grandy, star of \u201cThe Love Boat\u201d (representative from Iowa). There almost certainly will be more soon, such as Tucker Carlson (TV\u2019s representative from white grievance).<\/p>\n\n\n\n AOC Was Offered $100,000 by AIPAC to \u201cStart the Conversation.\u201d She Turned Them Down.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ryan Grim<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n DeSantis Lawyer Can\u2019t Name a Single Policy That Led to Reform Prosecutor\u2019s Suspension<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Akela Lacy<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Shock Poll Shows Independent Nebraska Union Leader Beating Republican Senator<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Prem Thakker<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n For whatever reason, the hearts of Democrats seem to cry out against this. Indeed, there are examples of Democrats taking this path in reverse, as with Jerry Springer: an extremely talented orator who parlayed the mayorship of Cincinnati<\/a> into a lucrative career in trash television. Many regular Democrats seemingly would prefer that politics have no humans involved at all and simply be a battle of lengthy position papers available online in 10-point type. (One unusual Democrat here is Al Franken, who started off on \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d before being elected to the Senate from Minnesota in 2008.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. has barely any culture in which people can rise to prominence beyond the culture of corporate entertainment.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Nonetheless, it\u2019s time to accept that we are the country that we are. The U.S. has barely any culture in which people can rise to prominence beyond the culture of corporate entertainment. While there\u2019s been a minor upsurge recently in union culture, we generally don\u2019t have a political culture. (When\u2019s the next meeting of political parties in your neighborhood? You probably don\u2019t know unless you live in Iowa or New Hampshire.) We have barely any noncorporate music culture. (Maybe in Austin?) We have a culture of regular people acting in one city. (Chicago.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The filmmaker Michael Moore (whom I once worked for) has tried to make this case to Democrats for decades. As he said<\/a> when he once beseeched Matt Damon<\/a> to run for president, \u201cIf you want to win, the Republicans have certainly shown the way: that when you run someone who is popular, you win. Sometimes even when you run an actor, you win. \u2026 I\u2019d like us to start thinking that way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Third, being funny is an underrated superpower in politics. In Reagan\u2019s first debate in 1984 with the Democratic nominee Walter Mondale, he appeared frighteningly confused. For the next debate, his writers gave him a perfect line, which he hit out of the park: \u201cI will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent\u2019s youth and inexperience.\u201d He remained noticeably confused, but the issue evaporated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"NEW](\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1150560659.jpg?resize=1200%2C801\")
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