Opinion: A job requirement for president
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Since the nation’s political scene is pretty much quiet these days and there’s nothing really yet going on in the races for the parties’ presidential nominations, we’ve had plenty of time to peruse the candidates’ biographies.
They’re a swell bunch of folks and, according to their websites, they all come from good, strong, happy, warm, loving families with lots of kids. As anyone who comes from a family knows, this isn’t always true.
But something else struck us, a steady theme that runs through the bios of all 17 announced candidates and those three others guys--Thompson, Gingrich and Gore--who probably will, conceivably could and just might announce, respectively.
Every one of them is a former something else. In fact, being a former something else seems to be a requirement for being a wannabe future president.
Take Bill Richardson, for example. He’s a former congressional staffer, a former congressman, a former ambassador, a former cabinet secretary, a former emissary, a former Pasadena resident and wants to be a former governor.
Mitt Romney? Former businessman. Former chief of the Salt Lake City Olympics. Former governor.
Hillary Clinton? Former first lady. Former practicing attorney.
John McCain? Former Navy pilot. Former POW. Former frontrunner.
John Edwards? Former senator. Former trial lawyer. Former vice presidential candidate. Former hedge fund employee.
Rudy Giuliani? Former mayor. Former federal prosecutor. Former husband of two.
Fred Thompson? Former senator. Former actor. Current tester of the presidential waters.
Ron Paul? Former Libertarian. Former ob-gyn.
Newt Gingrich? Former representative. Former House speaker. Former adulterer.
Chris Dodd? Former Peace Corps volunteer. Wants to move up and be a former senator.
Mike Gravel? Former cab driver and railroad brakeman. Former state legislator. Former senator.
Mike Huckabee? Former lieutenant governor. Former governor. Former president of the Baptist State Convention. Former fat man who lost 110 pounds when diagnosed with Type II diabetes.
Duncan Hunter? Former Army Ranger and Vietnam vet. About to be former congressman.
Dennis Kucinich? Former mayor.
Barack Obama? Former community activist. Former state legislator.
Tom Tancredo? Former state legislator.
Sam Brownback? Former Future Farmer of America. Former broadcaster. Former congressman.
Tommy Thompson? Former state legislator. Former governor. Former cabinet secretary.
Joe Biden? Former Pennsylvanian. Former county councilman.
Al Gore? Former senator. Former vice president. Former movie producer.
And, eventually, as the weeks pass and we come close to the end of next year, all but one of these people will join former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore as former presidential candidates.
--Andrew Malcolm