Draft Letterman: IN gov.

[alonso_quijano]

I'm only half-joking about this. Maybe less than half.

Indiana Democrats (really! we exist!) haven't had the best gubernatorial news over the last year or so. Joe Kernan, considered our best shot at keeping the governorship, announced he wasn't going to seek the office. That might change (since the passing of Governor O'Bannon elevated Lt. Gov. Kernan to Gov.), but he hasn't made any official announcement of that. Former DNC chair Joe Andrew is probably the leading D candidate; he would be a fine governor, I'm sure, but he hasn't been setting the race on fire.

So, if we don't have any standout candidates yet, why not start a "Draft Dave" campaign?

Is Dave a Democrat? Probably not a registered Dem, but he's definitely a liberal--maybe not an ideological liberal, but a "suffer no fools" liberal.

He's smart, sensible, and politically aware; he has good relationships with national politicians, both Democratic and Republican, who have appeared on his show; he is an Indiana icon, with both the public recognition and goodwill to go along with it; if he had any dark secrets, they'd be out by now.

Plus, any opponent who tried to take advantage of the "absurdity" of a "celebrity" running for governor would be completely outflanked by Letterman himself, who would be both much funnier (in pointing out the inherent absurdities of a celebrity campaign) and more insightful (in pointing out the inherent seriousness of it).

It seems pretty implausible, certainly, but as I was watching his show last night, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. Then one of his guests (who I don't know, a comedian, some old friend of Dave's) mentioned "Dave for Governor," and I knew I had to bring it up here. What do you think?

[NicoleM]

1. I think

he would have to be a resident of Indiana for that to work. And I'm pretty sure he's been a Connecticut resident for years.

[alonso_quijano]

2. If he registered to vote in Indiana...

he could run. And no one would dare accuse him of carpetbagging. He could even make his official residence his mom's house!

[RandomUser]

3. Interesting -- but does he want the job?

Not all media personalities want to enter politics, and he seems comfortable where he is right now.

[tridim]

4. After watching last night's show

and his shows for the past few months, it's my opinion that he should stay right where he is, on TV with a huge late night audience.

Keep on sticking it to Arnold, Bush and Leno. People listen to Dave.

[The_Gopher]

5. spanking leno last night

showed the clip of leno checking his watch at the ahhnold celebration, and then in his squeaky leno voice says, "ehhh, gotta get home and take care of my cars"

hilarious.

letterman loathes bushie. he stuck it to clinton (as he should have) but he's been going after bush on the WMD, osama, traitorgate, and halliburton. very pointed. and you can see how pleased letterman is each time they show a clip exposing shrubya for what he is--completely unqualified.

[screaming_meme]

6. David Letterman? Has it come to this?

Are we so unhinged by Schwarzenegger's landslide victory, we're sitting around throwing out other entertainers' names to even the score in other states. This is rather pathetic, frankly. Concentrate on 2004 and the White House.

[spooky3]

7. Did anyone see Dave do his Arnie pumping and groping impression?

There's not much on TV that makes me laugh hard (Mad TV often does) but I died laughing over this and so did most of his audience. He didn't need to say a word.