Will Melinda Gates be the primary or secondary on an IND ticket?

[CK_John]

I'm assuming there will be an IND party running and on the ballot in all states and the DEM(Clinton) and GOP(Romney) candidates will be selected and known. The question for the new movement to capture the WH will be who best to put on the ticket to split both parties and gain a super buzz factor. I'm just not sure of the order.

[Deja Q]

1. And will people be dumb enough to vote for her?

She needs to prove she'll be more than a shill for her hubby, who has said some awful things about America's working class recently; proving he's out of touch or the rest of us are out of touch regarding something else...

[CK_John]

3. And the current resident isn't.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Has she EVER indicated an interest in politics? I think she's pretty

busy being a mom and running the Gates Foundation.

[CK_John]

4. And the Gates Foundation is not political?

[AuntPatsy]

8. Of course she has

[SheilaT]

5. Why in the world are you assuming

there will be an independent candidate at all, least of all on the ballot in all states? Many, maybe most, states make it extremely difficult for anyone other than the Democratic and Republican nominees to get on the ballot.

If what you're actually trying to say is that you'd like to see a truly viable independent party, it's going to have to be built from the ground up, and probably on the ruins of a political party which has completely imploded. That's how the Republican Party came about: it was established by former Whigs, as that party disappeared, along with coalitions of various anti-slavery groups.

I cannot begin to imagine anyone who could split both major parties, regardless of who the nominees are. Although your implication that there could be a "middle ground" ready to be occupied by someone else, is intriguing. I also think you're going out on a very shaky limb to assume who the nominees will be this far out.

Also, with your naming of Melinda Gates as primary or secondary, who are you considering as her secondary or primary?

[CK_John]

6. IMO, a movement is already under way and has the money to see it

that it happens. (about 2 million per state). I do think it will happen and I feel that it should not be a total surprise to us. I also worry that the political climate is such that the right combination for this movement will actual win in 08.

Right now I believe it will be Gates/Bloomberg.

[SheilaT]

7. Okay, so sometimes I am REALLY

out of the loop and unaware of events, but this one has so far completely missed me.

Aside from the fact I can't begin to get my head around the idea that Melinda Gates will decide to leave her full-time job running the Gates Foundation to run for President, I don't see that ticket as pulling in votes other than some of the conservative Republican votes. Which would, of course, help the Democratic nominee immensely. And Bloomberg would have to be willing to leave the Republican party to help head up this hypothetical independent one.

I'm just curious as to the source of your information.

[CK_John]

9. Bloomberg was a Democrat most of his political life as was Regan. The Gates

Foundation is off to a poor start because it has no political punch. The political field is ripe for the picking. I have no source and just going with my gut.