Recently the popular actor, Dwayne The Rock Johnson announced that he wouldn’t mind running for president in 2024. There were rumors circulating around the web about real chances of The Rock becoming a president, and now we know how he feels about it. He considers it to be a ‘real possibility.’ I mean, we all saw how Trump won, and many started thinking about Dwayne’s real chances for victory. As absurd as it may sound, it is possible. However, we took it a step further by asking experts for their opinion.
Following the win of Donald Trump many were left dumbstruck and after that millions of people think that anyone can be elected president. But, Steve Jarding (Harvard public policy professor) believes otherwise. Why? Well because of the type of politics in America. The reactionary type of politics just makes it quite hard for a novice to carry out a successful campaign that would result in a win. However, if Dwayne was to really consider running one day, he should start from a ‘lower’ underdog position. He should learn the ropes first and slowly climb the ladder. And we have to agree with Jarding here because there were in fact wrestlers who became governors.
Princeton University professor and CNN contributor Julian Zelizer claimed that even though Trump’s ‘presidency may not be a success story’ his whole candidacy proves that there is some space in American politics for celebrities. However, the public has to think that Washington is a weak, broken institution filled with corruption and people will want to see a face that was not part of that system. It’s quite simple, voters nowadays usually connect the term ‘politician’ to something bad and rotten. And wrestler is surely better than a politician. In this case at least.
Another important decision The Rock would have to make is to pick a side. What do we mean by that? Well, it’s simple, either you are a Democrat, or you are a Republican. Easy? Well, according to some claims The Rock has been a registered Republican for some time now, however, he appeared at the national conventions of both parties. Quite odd isn’t it? That is not all, to add even more mystery to this whole story, he recently stated that he was ‘registered as independent.’ All in all, this was a wise move, he is keeping his cards open. One can never know who will have better poll ratings, democrats or republicans. That’s why this move is smart at least for the time being.
Another major issue with The Rock running for a president is that he’ll need someone to fund his multi-billion dollar campaign. Whether it comes from his enthusiastic fans as a donation or from someone far more powerful, it will matter. Bernie partly supported his campaign from the donations of his followers, but we all saw how that one ended. Columbia University political scientist Shapiro stated that The Rock simply couldn’t finance the campaign from his own pocket. It’s simply not deep enough. But if he had support from his fellow celebrity colleagues that could be a perfect source of donations. Thanks to his celebrity status he can play that card when it comes to fundraising for the campaign.
The biggest and most important thing when it comes to politics and elections is the manifesto. What is going to be The Rock’s message? How can he convince people to vote for him? He will need a whole media team and a team of speechwriters to achieve the goal of convincing millions to vote for him. He needs to learn a lot, he needs to be both charismatic but also firmly associated with what he’s talking about. One simply has to know a lot about politics and public speech if he/she wants to win in a debate. As a candidate, Trump was a mixture of a politician and celebrity. He is a showman, he crushed Hillary. If The Rock manages to be as good in politics as he is in overall appearance (charisma, humor and looks), he would really have a considerable chance of making it.
Last but not least, and Dwayne, you won’t like this one. He would need to cut his time spent in the gym. Being the most important element in a campaign requires you to be constantly on the move, flying from one state to another. It is tiring, depressing and whatnot but we are sure that The Rock has enough of muscle in stock to succeed. But, it would probably leave a grave mark on his body and looks. Even though there is not much physical work there, mental efforts sometimes prove to be more tiring for a person. So, Dwayne, start now, hire a team of professionals, start creating your own manifesto and image and maybe one day we’ll vote for you. If Trump can do it, why can’t you?
What do you think about the possibility of The Rock running for president? Let us know in the comments section below.
