Why Jon Stewart Should Run for President
His Sanders-authenticity would draw Sanders-style crowds and make him a welcome bane to both parties' establishments.
I’m serious about suggesting that Jon Stewart run for president. Listen to the following clip. I’m not posting this encounter because of its topic, though gender dysphoria is truly serious. I’m posting it because of Stewart’s method and approach.
He cuts through BS faster and better than anyone else in his business. He’s sharp, he’s fast on his feet, and he’s serious. Note his verbal sparring, his deft undercutting, the surprise but modulated pivots to accusations of lying.
This is taken from Season 2, Episode 1 of The Trouble with Jon Stewart. The entire interview, available only on Apple+, is even stronger.
A Bane to Both Establishments
He’d not only do this to Republicans running against him. He’d do the same to Democrats who got in the way of doing right for America. Faux-President Manchin, would get creamed, not coddled and cultivated. Schumer and his despicable cave, for example, to the Senate Parliamentarian on drug price reform would be treated the same. Stewart, through his career, has been an equal opportunity offender.
The arguments for:
He has Sanders-authenticity, the real thing, not the fake-authentic variety manufactured by PR firms.
He’s more serious about his goals than he is about his career.
He would inspire a Sanders-like following (note the image above, from 2015).
He’s as good as we would get against Trump on the debate stage.
The arguments against:
The Democratic establishment would work to defeat him at every turn. The antidote to that would be the Sanders-style wind at his back. Finally, someone on the left for the real uprising to hook to.
He appears not to want to.
Nevertheless, I can’t think of a candidate I’d vote more enthusiastically for than Jon Stewart. After all, the best of this crowd is getting us nowhere.
We need a principled disruptor, Sanders-style. Can you think of anyone better fit for the role? Neither can I.
I don’t think Dore would draw nearly the crowds that Stewart would. Those crowds are key.
But thanks for the comments, everyone. I’ll pick this up again next week.
Thomas
Stewart’s comedy was always well within the bounds of establishment Democratic Party politics. He has never wavered from the pro-war orthodoxy. His only asset in the race is that he is well known and not disliked by most Democratic voters. I understand the frustration. There are no actual progressives in the Democratic Party (judging by actions rather than words). There are no Democrats with national name recognition, a decent track record, and sufficient charisma to beat any likely Republican nominee. The best course of action is to dissolve the party altogether and build some new ones that actually stand for something other than the status quo.