How far away is Schwarzenegger from the White House?

[slyc_willie]

Seriously. All it would take is an amendment to the constitution which would say one would only have to be a naturalized citizen, and not a natural-born citizen, to be eligible for office.

It's already been referenced too a few times in popular culture. The movie "Demolition Man" is the first example that comes to mind.

Granted, we're going to have Obama for a good eight years (I have no doubt he will win re-election, and I hope he does). After that, however, the presidency will again be up for grabs between the two major parties. Arni would run as a republican, obviously, and the timing would be right after whatever scandals, rumors, or reports of misappropriation come out regarding Obama's administration. And there will be those, have no doubt.

So, I'm just wondering what you all think. I hope this thread doesn't degenerate into petty political squabbling, but there will probably be some of that anyway.

How likely is it that an amendment could be passed that would allow Schwarzenegger to run for the highest office? And how would you foresee that happening?

 

[pellso27]

With California as a start, I would say a long fucking way!

 

[slyc_willie]

With California as a start, I would say a long fucking way!

You might think so, but I doubt ol' Arni is ready to give up just yet. He did, after all, claim one of THE biggest states (as regards EC votes) on his first bid for state office. Not too shabby.

I keep thinking of Schwarzenegger's self-stated goals, as related in Pumping Iron: I want to be a big movie star and marry a Kennedy.

He's done that.

Next?

 

[sr71plt]

I don't think there would be a constitutional amendment for him--or that he'd be young enough to contemplate a run in eight years. Just maybe ten or fifteen years behind the curve in both cases. I don't thing the admendment would get off the ground on the basis of just one specific possible candidate--when there are three or four possibilities coming up, perhaps.

 

[pellso27]

Another smoke out with Cheech

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I recall an estimate a few years back that indicated that by the time the amendment could get through the Senate (and it probably would because there are many people in both parties who think it should) and then be passed by the required number of state legislatures the youngest he could be is 72. Now admittedly a Governator at 72 would be a far cry from McCain at 72. Unfortunately, unless the GOP can shed the Paleoconservatives or the Reptilian Right, whichever term best applies, they really aren't going to be in any shape to run anyone after Obama. Especially of Barack gets credit for the inevitable economic turn around that will take the market back up, send employment back where it belongs, etc.

I suspect that his next position will be the Senate. I have no doubt that he could cream Boxer. Feinstein, I'm not so sure about.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

An amendment to the constitution is not an easy thing to get. Even if the popular sentiment is yes, it's the states that have to ratify to get it done. There are several amendments still pending due to state putting their ratification on hold.

 

[slyc_willie]

I don't think there would be a constitutional amendment for him--or that he'd be young enough to contemplate a run in eight years. Just maybe ten or fifteen years behind the curve in both cases. I don't thing the admendment would get off the ground on the basis of just one specific possible candidate--when there are three or four possibilities coming up, perhaps.

Yeah, that crossed my mind, too. But with the whole "change" attitude running rampant in Obama's burgeoning administration, I wouldn't say such an amendment would be out of the question. A lot could happen in the next eight years.

I recall an estimate a few years back that indicated that by the time the amendment could get through the Senate (and it probably would because there are many people in both parties who think it should) and then be passed by the required number of state legislatures the youngest he could be is 72. Now admittedly a Governator at 72 would be a far cry from McCain at 72. Unfortunately, unless the GOP can shed the Paleoconservatives or the Reptilian Right, whichever term best applies, they really aren't going to be in any shape to run anyone after Obama. Especially of Barack gets credit for the inevitable economic turn around that will take the market back up, send employment back where it belongs, etc.

Of course, of course, but when you think about some of the biggest mouthpieces the Republican party has in the public limelight (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others), by 2016 they will probably no longer be around. But there will be just enough of the old guard left to tutor a younger, "fresher" Republican party in the same vein that resulted in Obama's popularity for the Dems.

I don't think it's entirely out of the question. Unlikely? probably.

Stranger things have happened . . . .

 

[Boxlicker101]

An amendment to the constitution is not an easy thing to get. Even if the popular sentiment is yes, it's the states that have to ratify to get it done. There are several amendments still pending due to state putting their ratification on hold.

Amending the first parts of the Constitution is almost impossible. I believe it has been done only once in the history of the US, and that was the direct election of senators. I can't see it geting through 38 state legislatures.

After Arnie terms out, I expect to see him running for senator. Since he's fom LA, I think he could beat either incumbent.

 

[3113]

Back when Arnold could show up and give Bush a leg up into the White House by just being at a rally--and back when the GOP was the majority in both House and Senate, I'd have said it was a possibility. Arnold was in his political prime and very popular. But his years as govennator have tarnished him a bit, and that's not just with voters. Republicans in CA have been disappointed in him. He went to speak up for McCain and was hardly noticed.

No one's going to want to push an amendment through just to get him into office. And there's far too much anti-foreigner sentiment at this time to do so anyway. There are folk who are trying to disqualify Obama insisting that he wasn't born in the U.S. or holds dual citizenship and so can't be considered for the presidency. I doubt that would motivate either party to change the amendment. If the GOP tries to change it, well then they're hypocrites--making a fuss over Obama when they want their own foreign born candidate to be president. And if the Dem's try to change it, then they'll be accused of doing so to sneak in more candidates like Obama who might have "iffy" citizenship.

When Arnold was in the spotlight, there was a possibility. But it's come and gone. Arnold is old news. Ain't gonna happen or even be proposed.

 

[slyc_willie]

Back when Arnold could show up and give Bush a leg up into the White House by just being at a rally--and back when the GOP was the majority in both House and Senate, I'd have said it was a possibility. Arnold was in his political prime and very popular. But his years as govennator have tarnished him a bit, and that's not just with voters. Republicans in CA have been disappointed in him. He went to speak up for McCain and was hardly noticed.

No one's going to want to push an amendment through just to get him into office. And there's far too much anti-foreigner sentiment at this time to do so anyway. There are folk who are trying to disqualify Obama insisting that he wasn't born in the U.S. or holds dual citizenship and so can't be considered for the presidency. I doubt that would motivate either party to change the amendment. If the GOP tries to change it, well then they're hypocrites--making a fuss over Obama when they want their own foreign born candidate to be president. And if the Dem's try to change it, then they'll be accused of doing so to sneak in more candidates like Obama who might have "iffy" citizenship.

When Arnold was in the spotlight, there was a possibility. But it's come and gone. Arnold is old news. Ain't gonna happen or even be proposed.

Maybe . . . but your mention of Obama's "iffy" citizenship makes me consider there could very well be some sort of alteration to affirm he has the right to hold office . . . ergo some kind of 'back door' clause that might somehow be used by Arni supporters.

That's a hell of a stretch, I admit. Probably an insurmountable one.

But, regarding popularity . . . how many crappy-ass movies did Burt Reynolds make before he popped back into the limelight with Boogie Nights? Michael Caine could be another example. Popularity is as impossible to predict as the ingredients in Aunt Mary's fruitcake surprise.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

With California as a start, I would say a long fucking way!

*nodding*

About 2300 miles...

 

[sr71plt]

*nodding*

About 2300 miles...

More like 3,000 miles from L.A. to D.C., isn't it?

 

[slyc_willie]

More like 3,000 miles from L.A. to D.C., isn't it?

Depends if you drive, fly, or take the campaign trail.

The latter, I think, is somewhere around 5,000 . . . .

 

[sr71plt]

Depends if you drive, fly, or take the campaign trail.

The latter, I think, is somewhere around 5,000 . . . .

Well, yes. And if you were a corporate CEO, it would be considerably longer, because you'd start out from San Diego on the QEII and head west.

 

[slyc_willie]

Well, yes. And if you were a corporate CEO, it would be considerably longer, because you'd start out from San Diego on the QEII and head west.

Or, if you were Arni, you'd start from Miami and head east.

Best to start things in the old country, right?

 

[Weird Harold]

How likely is it that an amendment could be passed that would allow Schwarzenegger to run for the highest office? And how would you foresee that happening?

I don't forsee it happening within my lifetime and probably not within the lifetime of my grandchildren.

There was far more popular support for ammending the Constitution to allow Henry Kissinger to fulfill the secretary of state's place in the sucession when Nixon was being impeached and it came to not even a draft ammendment to be tabled and forgotten. There is far less popular support and respect from other politicians for (Arnie other than in California) than there was for Kissinger so I don't think it will even get to the "we really should draft an amendment to cover this situation" stage.

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

Maybe . . . but your mention of Obama's "iffy" citizenship makes me consider there could very well be some sort of alteration to affirm he has the right to hold office . . . ergo some kind of 'back door' clause that might somehow be used by Arni supporters.

That's a hell of a stretch, I admit. Probably an insurmountable one.

But, regarding popularity . . . how many crappy-ass movies did Burt Reynolds make before he popped back into the limelight with Boogie Nights? Michael Caine could be another example. Popularity is as impossible to predict as the ingredients in Aunt Mary's fruitcake surprise.

What would be iffy about Obama's citizenship? He was born in a state in the union to an American citizen. McCain might be more iffy because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone but neither of the two would have been disqualified. They both spent some of their younger years outside of the US but that wouldn't matter either.

Right now the only way for Arnie to become president would be for the US to annex Austria. I'm not saying that would ever happen, but it would make him eligible. Washing ton and Adams and others were not born in the US because the US didn't exist when they were born. The Constitution says they have to be born in the US or in a place that becomes part of the US and that would be why the annexation of Austria would make Arnie eligible.

 

[Pornguin]

I don't see 38 states ratfying the necessary amendment to allow Arnie. But then, with Palin crushing the Boy King in 2012 and getting two terms, and then Bobby Jindal following her, it's a mute point.

 

[cloudy]

I don't see 38 states ratfying the necessary amendment to allow Arnie. But then, with Palin crushing the Boy King in 2012 and getting two terms, and then Bobby Jindal following her, it's a mute point.

Dream on.

 

[Edward Teach]

I don't see 38 states ratfying the necessary amendment to allow Arnie. But then, with Palin crushing the Boy King in 2012 and getting two terms, and then Bobby Jindal following her, it's a mute point.

Palin will pose for Playboy before then.

 

[rgraham666]

Dream on.

Dreams are all they have left.

 

[ishtat]

Palin will pose for Playboy before then.

They'd have to air brush the stretch marks on her brain.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

SPA

The Supremes have Obama's citizenship on their docket for review. Not much, if anything, is expected to happen.

But there are 2 questions pertaining to Obama.

ONE: Did he give up his US citizenship when he lived in Indonesia?
TWO: Was he born in Kenya?

Hawaii has his birth certificate hidden in a safe and wont allow anyone to see it.

I suspect Obama was born in Kenya and his mom applied for the birth certificate later. But missionaries etc do this all the time when they work overseas and have children.

 

[Liar]

Provided Shwartzy could run, could he win? never mind the general election, could he secure either big party's nomination? As a moderate California Republican? Within the next three election cycles?

I'd volunteer a big fat 'no'.