DWF Seeking VP

About a week before I quit U4Prez, I had another brilliant idea. I get brilliant ideas all the time, some I would ue for myself, some I would give out to others if I thought they were good, but just didn't quite fit what I was doing. The Antipartisan Pledge, in my opinion, was a good idea, and I got thirty-five candidates to sign up for it at one time or another, which I believe still makes it the most signed petition in U4Prea history. Using the Indyleader profile as a viewing screen for Independents to show their videos, I think that was a pretty good idea on my part. Using humor in my attack ads ended up being a good idea in hindsight, because I learned if I just went at a candidate without offering a few lighthearted chuckles along the way, it would backfire horribly.

Whether Demopublic wishes to use this idea or not is up to her, but at the end of the September primary, with the number of candidates set for the Convention to compete for the general election, I was going to propose to the primary winners that they come up with a short list for potential runningmates. I know that's something that was always lightly talked about, but there was never anything formally discussed on the subject. Many would playfully ask if they could be my vice-president, all in jest, I am sure. But I was going to try to talk the primary winners into picking runningmates.

My hope was to get as many Independents involved in things as possible. The way U4Prez functions, there might end up being 20 or so candidates who qualify to go onto the convention. That's less than 1% of the U4Prez population. In order to get as many Indies in the game--and hence, fewer Indies to quit in the thought that they have no chance--I was going to talk the primary winners to take on a VP who had NOT previously won a primary. I never made a single rule in terms of what the Independents should do in the course of their campaigns, but I was going to ask them in the most polite terms to consider such a running mate. By doing so, instead of, say, five Independents in the mix, there would be ten.

I was also starting to set up for the Convention. I was putting together speakers, presentations, representatives from third-parties, a keynote address, a movie marathon, all sorts of ideas. The Vice President thing was part of this, part of generating excitement among the Independents.

My departure, of course, dashed these hopes. But, had I just shut up like many wish I did, had I silently accepted the invitation as the mysterious "April winner" like Eric Gurr wanted me to, I would have had to make my own choice for my running mate.

So I started to think, who would be a good running mate for Olivia? I thought about the real world, how party nominees choose their VP's. Well, they seek to "balance the ticket", and I thought about that. How should I balance the ticket. Geographically? I am in the Southwest, surely I could think of an Independent from the East who would balance this out. Ideologically? Typically, the President and the VP are on the same page, but I started to think about who would counter me in terms of political commitment. I lean left, so of course I would consider someone who leaned right, right?

I also wanted someone who still had enthusiasm for U4Prez, who, when he or she came in, the place was automatically filled with positive energy. There are a lot of burned-out candidates these days, and I would definitely like to be working with someone who could pick me up when I needed it.

Someone who shared my zeal for promotion as well. I didn't want someone who was going to just sit there and let me do all the work. I considered candidates who I felt would show some initiative in terms of promotion, who would use his or her own abilities to make the campaign go. By the time of the convention, everyone knows everyone's platforms and the candidates themselves pretty well, I wanted someone who would work WITH me to promote us, not just rely on my own talents as if they were coattails.

Lastly, I wanted someone who agreed with my central issue, that the two-party system is corrupt to the core, that the Republocrats work together to being bad legislation to bear, and that collusion is what keeps the possibility of a third party nominee or an independent from every making a truly serious run. The sooner we vote the current crop of bastards out, the sooner we can refashion this country and have the government actually become answerable to the people who vote them into power, what a concept!

I had 700 candidates to pick from, and I thought quite a bit on this. Ultimately, I came up with two possibilities, one you can probably guess, the other you could figure out if you've been paying attention to this blog. Both are popular enough to win a primary, having been given a chance. Both have partaken in run-offs, and I truly hope, with me gone, they get a chance at another run-off before it's too late.

TheWiz is a no-brainer. Being from Cleveland and with conservative tendencies, he balances me, both geographically and politically. He is one of those few candidates--MejicoJohn is another one, but he won already, so no luck for me--who make people laugh on a consistent basis. He certainly can dish back out what he gets, and he has no problem with being outspoken. Considering his Photoshop talents and my usage of them to make at least one kickass video, he certainly would qualify as someone who shared my desire for promotion. Finally, as possibly the best-known defector from the Republican Party, TheWiz realizes there are more important things than being part of a top-down party that would prefer you tow the line instead of thinking for yourself.

Don't ever underestimate TheWiz. He has been attacked in recent weeks, especially since my departure, as being my lackey. Au contraire. For as much as I appreciate his strange position, TheWiz should never be seen as Mr. Olivia, and I thoroughly resent such beliefs from any candidate. Wiz will rise and fall on his own merits, and I truly hope he will be allowed to do so. This is not a defense, he would never accept me defending his honor. He is no punching bag, and for the Hard Right to target him because they don't have Olivia to pick on anymore is a pretty shitty thing to do. TheWiz is not to me what Mduminiak is to Kempite. Wiz is no monkeyboy. I detest any candidate who treats him as such.

The other candidate was CHASE, and I even mentioned this idea to him, that he was on my short list for VP candidates. He has everything I'm looking for in a candidate. He beings that genuine and positive energy with him wherever he goes, I rarely see him making disparaging remarks about anyone. He is a good kid who deserves someone taking notice of him and giving him a boost. He LOVES his camera and the videos he makes--I think I told you how he adored the idea of me putting his videos on the Indyleader profile, and the time he told me aobut the video he couldn't get onto YouTube, and yet I got it on the profile about five minutes after he announced his existence. That kind of spirit and want to promote were just what I was looking for.

I think he's just turned 17, he's 16 or 17, but he's already figured out this two-party system is suffocating us. There have been politicians in Washington who have been there for fifty years, and he seems wiser than they are.

That is not to say the rest of the Independents were not worthy of being my vice president. MejicoJohn and Maditude have already won primaries, both of them could make great VP's for someone. CoryF is one of the most steadfast candidates the Indies have, and I was seriously considering him as well. There are at least two more Independents who will win primaries, and I have a feeling Eric Gurr will pull the "April winner" card out of his ass again, maybe even a "May winner". Every candidate whose face I put on a video sometime in the past, the Independents, they all would make excellent presidents and VP's.

Were I still there, however, I would have picked either TheWiz or CHASE.

I am curious who others would have picked. Who would MejicoJohn, or Efferiss, or Faustus37, or Maditude, who would they want working with them as their running mate? We're starting to get down to crunch time, it's something to consider, a new wrinkle to throw in.