While some people still can’t get used to having Trump as president and need some time for it to settle in, others are already thinking about who his successor might be. Namely, it seems that the Baywatch star might be the next president of the United States, believe it or not, Dwayne Johnson could be the guy.
The truth is that The Rock has mentioned several times he might be running for high office, but he wasn’t taken that seriously until he confirmed it in an interview last month. However, no one does really know where Johnson stands on the political spectrum. As we have found out, he is a registered Republican who steers clear of hard-edged politicking. This guy is thought to be the right person for the polarized time we live in, as stated in a newspaper article.
Moreover, having Trump as president has shown that people coming from different backgrounds can be elected, so why not Johnson? There have been some rather sarcastic comments on Trump’s presidency, such as “Democrats would be better off if they ran Oprah or Tom Hanks. Why don’t we run beloved people?”
It is obvious that Trump is seen as a political joke, so it seems that anyone can pull it off, such as Oprah, Angelina Jolie, or whoever comes to our minds. And it doesn’t even end here. Rumor has it that Ohio Democrats are pushing talk-show host Jerry Springer to run for governor. The difference between him and Trump is that he does have some political experience since he was mayor of Cincinnati sometime in the past.
When Springer was asked to share his opinion on the idea, he wasn’t much enthusiastic about it. He said he didn’t even consider that, but if we look at it from the political aspect of view, it would be a solid “Maybe.”
However, Democrats should be careful about the celebrity train they have jumped on. If we take a look at their success during the past few decades, we can see that they have been less successful than Republicans when it comes to having celebrities elected at the federal level. Some of the GOP celebrities sent to the Capitol Hill are Representatives Fred Grandy, Jon Runyan, Sean Duffy, J.C. Watts, Tom Osborne, Sonny Bono, Steve Largent and Senators Jim Bunning and Fred Thompson, while on the Democratic side there are Representatives Tom McMillan, Heath Shuler, Ben Jones and Senators Bill Bradley and Al Franken, etc.
Nonetheless, there is one factor which works in Republicans’ favor – pro athletes. While all TV-personalities have their charms, the truth is that sports stars outperform all of them. The Republican Party made a smart move by recruiting athletes because of the tax issue. As we know, pro athletes run into big money, and it is motivating and aggravating for them because their paycheck won’t go to incomes taxes, so they opt for the Republican Party.
It seems that GOP celebrities benefit because they prove to be the uncorrupted and refreshing alternative to self-serving politicians. As we know, Bernie Sanders is a Republican who has been in electoral politics for as long as we can remember.
Furthermore, it doesn’t have to mean that celebrities are completely ignorant of politics. There have been many popular figures who have proved to be rather successful candidates. Of course, it all depends on the person, so we shouldn’t judge and generalize. When it comes to Trump, in particular, he was regarded ludicrous until recently, but then he showed some qualities, such as working with the media and connection with regular people. It is quite important to be able to relate to the average Joe, and Trump showed he is capable of doing so. In no case should one be unapproachable and conceited.
When it comes to Democrats, they seem to think of themselves as experts in everything and that there is no room for unconventional candidates. However, since political norms have changed, maybe Democrats should start thinking how to convince The Rock to switch parties.
