Alternate celebrity politicians?
- Thread starter brunohusker
- Start date
I imagine that in a “For All Time”-esque universe, Jeffrey Epstein would win on either a Democratic or Independent platform. Harvey Weinstein could also possibly be a Democrat candidate.
Gary Sinise. Extremely pro-military. Could run as a moderate National Security Republican in the Obama years and might win a Senate/Rep seat. Would probably not fit into the Trump-era party so that avenue is probably closed off.
Ashley Judd. She considered a Kentucky Senate run in 2014 but was up against ruthless opposition. If the latter had been exposed earlier she could have survived it.
Ashley Judd. She considered a Kentucky Senate run in 2014 but was up against ruthless opposition. If the latter had been exposed earlier she could have survived it.
I'm surprised no one has talked about Dwayne Johnson yet, according to some polling he was the third most popular choice for president, and he has repeatedly teased running for the office time and time again. Wouldn't be shocked to see him run for some other office before the Presidency though.
Richard Petty (a NASCAR driver) ran for North Carolina Secretary of State in 1996, but lost because he was overconfident and didn't campaign much. If he'd one, he would have been a likely Republican candidate for Governor in 2000 or to replace Jesse Helms in the Senate in 2002.
Ben Affleck was talked about as a candidate for Senate from Massachusetts in 2012.
Clay Aiken (American Idol contestant) ran a doomed campaign for Congress from North Carolina in 2014, so could presumably have entered Congress if a more Democrat-friendly district had opened up.
Melissa Gilbert (Child actor on Little House on the Prairie and later President of the Screen Actors Guild) ran for Congress from Michigan in 2016 but had to drop out due to health issues.
Cynthia Nixon (Most known for Sex and the City) ran in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in New York in 2018.
Gregg Popovich (Head coach of the San Antonio Spurs) was mentioned as a potential candidate for statewide office in Texas after speaking out on various political issues in 2017-2018.
Ben Affleck was talked about as a candidate for Senate from Massachusetts in 2012.
Clay Aiken (American Idol contestant) ran a doomed campaign for Congress from North Carolina in 2014, so could presumably have entered Congress if a more Democrat-friendly district had opened up.
Melissa Gilbert (Child actor on Little House on the Prairie and later President of the Screen Actors Guild) ran for Congress from Michigan in 2016 but had to drop out due to health issues.
Cynthia Nixon (Most known for Sex and the City) ran in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in New York in 2018.
Gregg Popovich (Head coach of the San Antonio Spurs) was mentioned as a potential candidate for statewide office in Texas after speaking out on various political issues in 2017-2018.
Let’s not forget Kanye West, who actually DID run for president in 2020 under the “Birthday Party”, and actually got 70,000 votes total in the states he was eligible for the ballot 😒🙄
I feel like he’d be very much like Trump. He would be a good one though.
I think he just criticized Obama with an empty chair, declared himself Republican and commented he considered himself libertarian.
The only alternate history I have seen of him as a politician was Red World.
Forgot about sports celebs too. I know there have been plenty in real life with college football coaches like Tommy Tuberville in Alabama and Tom Osborne in Nebraska in the 2000s. In regards to college coaches, I think I heard that some wanted Joe Paterno to run for PA governor in the 70’s. Also heard that Nixon looked into having Packers coach Vince Lombardi as his vp but then found out he was a Democrat (though Lombardi was pretty much a conservative by that point even if he stayed a democrat due to being a Brooklyn Italian Catholic.)
Fir players, I feel guys like Larry Bird in Indiana or any of the Manning’s in Mississippi would be good choices. Very revered in their states. Same for John
Elway in Colorado or John Stockton in Utah for pro guys.
He was mayor of a small town in California for a couple of years in the late 1980s, where his main accomplishment was repealing a ban on public consumption of ice cream, and served on a couple of state commissions in the 2000s. His politics are generally libertarian-leaning, so he could be a potential Libertarian Party recruit for statewide or national office if they were seeking to get a polling bump for name recognition.
Eastwood hated being in politics so he would probably only run for office once, he could have run for the Californian governorship if Shwarzenneger didn't
Beaty was a vocal opponent of Shwarzenneger too and may have tried to beat him in 2006
I could see it. The thing is, if he runs with his Colbert report persona, do conservatives who like him get the joke? I literally had teachersin my catholic high school who thought he was funny but for different reasons than many on the left.
If I remember correctly he was asked to run for Senate in Alabama at one point or governor in order to primary challenge George Wallace. I think that might be a fun TL depending on what year it happens.
Also, I think in a lot of the Midwest and especially the south a lot of college football coaches and players could easily win. We already have some. I could see guys like Nick Saban, Barry Switzer or Bobby Bowden run and win if interested, and in the Midwest I’m sure Woody Hayes or Bo Schembechler or later on Hayden Fry or Bobby Knight or even wrestler Dan Gable ( if you know about wrestling, he’s basically the King of wrestling and in Iowa that’s huge) and that could be interesting.
A perfect opportunity for a third party run picking up both conservatives who think he's legit, and liberals who think it's a joke.
Sammy Kershaw (country singer) once made an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor of Louisiana. That position is basically tourism commissioner, but if he pulled off the upset and Jindal made a successful bid for higher office, he's in a substantive political office.
