You Will Meet a Handsome Stranger

[AlienGirl]

In the troubled times ahead, you are going to meet a handsome stranger. He will probably be a newcomer to the world of politics; part of his appeal will be that he is an "outsider," a mystery candidate who seems to emerge on the scene out of nowhere. He will use this to his advantage: since he is not a part of the old and broken system, he is beholden to no one. You won't have to question his allegiances or worry that he is "bought and paid for" or "owned by AIPAC."

He will be charismatic and full of new ideas. All over the country, people from both the left and right will hear things in his platform that they like: national healthcare, end to illegal immigration, environmental protection, a flat tax, additional supports for struggling families. He'll ask for so little from you in return: a vote, maybe a boycott, maybe drop a business contact or a friendship here or there.

He'll promise you a flush economy and a national renewal you had never even dreamed possible. He'll give you hope. He'll be a dynamic speaker, absolutely alive with conviction; he will send the recession packing, raise wages, promise the middle-class prosperity again.

His platform's already written, and he's waiting in the wings for the time just after the Iran crisis, when you will be fed up enough to ask for him and put your trust in him. His name, his party, are yet unknown; but when America "wakes up," he will appear for you.

Tucker

[northofdenali]

1. Hi, AG! - Let me guess ...

his name is Satan?

Good post. I wish it could happen.

[AlienGirl]

2. When the country is ready, the leader will appear.

[northofdenali]

3. I hope so, girlfriend, but I'm afraid we had our chance in 2000 -

and our chance was stolen from us.

Kicking your post - it needs to be read. :hug:

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Hmm....could it be SATAN???!!!

Sombody's been reading up on their Antichrist. :evilgrin:

[AlienGirl]

7. Wow, two immediate replies from Alaska!

:evilgrin:

[Blue_In_AK]

10. I know ... NorthOfDenali and I share a brain. :-)

[TomInTib]

5. I oft times find myself wondering...

Just who is hiding in the wings?

Any guesses?

[AlienGirl]

15. Your guess is probably as good as mine at this point! nt

[SharonAnn]

54. Yeats "What rough beast, his hour come round at last, is slouching to Bethlehem to be born?"

Or something like that.

[Gold Metal Flake]

6. But AlienGirl, he will be "unelectable".

Don't throw your vote away.

Please! Think of the votes!

[AlienGirl]

9. What makes him unelectable?

:shrug: He's telegenic and has great hair!

Tucker

[Gold Metal Flake]

11. A mysterious scandal from the past!! (debunked out of sight)

Alleged ties to some crook! (no ties actually found, no retraction printed)

Oh My God! He's spotted wearing Dockers! (much mindless discussion of how this hurts him yet no reason given as to why)

Hillary conflates 9/11 and Iraq.

NADER!!

Name truncated on ballots!

And yet, despite all of this...

[Canuckistanian]

8. I don't believe in the Tooth Fairy

Word has it that he's on the payroll of the powerful dental lobby. You never heard it from me.

[Marie26]

12. Fitz? nt

[Gold Metal Flake]

13. Spitzer? nt

[AlienGirl]

14. I don't think it's anyone who's already gotten national attention.

[bridgit]

16. please tell me that i am under no obligation to speak directly into the carnation...

strategically placed in his lapel with the thin, hair-like, fiber optic cable sticking out of it's center

[AlienGirl]

17. Carnation?

[bridgit]

18. posey?

[AlienGirl]

21. Why would he have a posey? I don't get the reference.

[bridgit]

23. why would he be per se a "handsome" stranger, or indeed a "stranger" at all?

'Dumb Loyalty. Nicholas Ploumbides knew all this when he went to trial in July 1953, but his loyalty was unswerving. He appeared in, court daily in a well-pressed white linen suit and a red carnation in his lapel.; Greek Communism, he told the court, owed its allegiance to the Kremlin and Nico Zachariades. He took the stand only once in the nine-day proceedings. Then, toughing softly into a bloodstained handkerchief, he limited his remarks to a textbook eulogy of world Communism and an attack on "American imperialism."'

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,891051,00.html

[AlienGirl]

25. Because the familiar batch of politicians will appear to be too tainted.

[bridgit]

29. k...

[anitar1]

19. Is he the long awaited anti Christ ? n/t

[everythingsxen]

20. Nah ... AlienGirl doesn't believe in the anti-Christ

I know who she is talking about..

He will be along very soon I am sure. All signs point to his (or her) arrival on the scene.

[AlienGirl]

30. The stage is set.

[everythingsxen]

41. Act 1 is well under way...

Soon the curtain will come down and Act 2 can begin.

[Lurking Dem]

35. This is interesting - in the Chinese sense.

:popcorn:

[AlienGirl]

22. Why do people keep assuming that? Is there something un-like-able about him?

[AlienGirl]

28. What questions might be asked that would reveal if he was (not literally)?

[Straight Shooter]

24. I would prefer it not be a "handsome stranger." I much prefer a "lovely stranger."

That is to say, a woman. :D

[AlienGirl]

26. Sure, Mystery Candidate A could be a woman!

[Straight Shooter]

27. We can hope!

:hi:

[rosesaylavee]

31. Glad to see your post...

I was doing a quick scan this am and hoping that someone on this thread suggested a woman. Good on you!!

[Solly Mack]

32. I grok

[GeorgeGist]

33. What planet...

did you come from AlienGirl?

[BlueIris]

34. I already know his name.

I know (almost) everything about him. I'm excited for the day he arrives on the national scene. It will be so very beautiful.

[Lurking Dem]

36. kick

[AlienGirl]

37. Is this candidate everybody's hero, or what?! Part II of the thought experiment

(I'm going to keep calling him a "he" because I imagined him as a male. You can picture her as a woman, if it makes you more comfortable with her amazing vision for the future.)

Mystery Candidate A is also a disgruntled veteran of one of the seemingly-endless conflicts of the last decade. Let's say Gulf War I, just to give him an anchor. He suffered a minor battlefield injury and was discharged after being injured. Though he never achieved a high rank, he has seen war up-close and personal. This makes him attractive to the right because he "supports the troops!" as well as to us, because he knows how horrible war is, so he will be less frivolous about it than Bush.

I said "disgruntled" vet. He's seen too many desperate, weary eyes behind cardboard signs that say "Disabled Vet, Please Help and God Bless." He thinks things have not been right with the military for a long time: the troops have been put in harm's way again and again at the behest of special-interest PACs and profiteers. In this last war, he has identified a particular informal special-interest group that pushed for war, then, as soon as the war turned disastrous, tried to distance themselves from the plan and stabbed the nation in the back. He is outraged about this, and his speeches and writings about the "traitors among us" are popular among disillusioned conservatives like Pat Buchanan.

Grassroots supporters for Mystery Candidate A seem to be everywhere. At his organizing events, a rare spirit of co-operation prevails: college kids and aging small-businessmen, long-time activists and the ordinarily-apathetic, farmers and urbanites, poor folks and rich all are motivated to join in, volunteering time and energy and money in organizing--but also, in charity. His supporters have drives for food banks, collect money for veterans' organizations, distribute blankets to the homeless, host free health clinics in the offices of doctors who are "with the program."

As soon as he's elected, he says, he will end corruption in Washington and do whatever it takes to get the government working for the people again.

Tucker

[Lurking Dem]

38. kick

[Nickster]

52. Is it this man?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/08/sacrifice/index.html

Webb has recognized the severing of the link between the people in power who make the decision to go to war and the people in uniform, who pay the price for that decision.

Deploring the habit of Washington policymakers to reduce flesh and blood to abstractions, Webb once corrected: "You don't use 'force,' you send people. You send young people who have dreams, who want a future."

The people who make the fateful decision for the nation to go to war are, themselves, subject to no personal consequences. Their children and the children of their friends are not at risk. Without apparent embarrassment, they champion a policy of military escalation with no personal participation.

[hippiechick]

39. But Dimson/the Anti-Christ already had his 2 terms ...

Is he going to re-reinvent himself ?

:shrug:

[everythingsxen]

40. No it won't be Bush

Mystery Candidate A will be very charismatic. He will be able to speak fairly eloquently and really rally support behind him with his frank and honest political discussions. He will basically be the candidate everyone will want to vote for. He will say that he will make America the great country it used to be before corrupt politicians and their special interest backers ruined it and dropped so many Americans into poverty. He will vow to clean up Washington and stop special interest lobbys from running the nation.

[AlienGirl]

45. Won't be Bush; this person will come out of a direction nobody's looking.

[everythingsxen]

42. Kick

AlienGirl would probably like to see this thread up at the top of the page with several dozen more replies by the time she gets onto the computer.

Come on... reply! Reply or the terrorists win!

[rzr77]

43. Teve Torbes ? nt

[everythingsxen]

44. Who is Teve Torbes?

Eh?

[TexasLawyer]

56. Saturday Night Live's super secret code for

Steve Forbes:rofl:

[everythingsxen]

46. So what do you think...

We go to war with Iran "a little bit" and the people turn against Bush? Possibly led by Mystery Candidate A who points out special interest groups that are behind the war? Mystery Candidate A then runs for Prez in '08?

[AlienGirl]

47. Something like that; or even the Iraq-quagmire combined with worsening economy

I'm not sure if a war with Iran is necessary for the scenario envisioned; but if a war with Iran happens, I think that virtually guarantees the rest of the scenario playing out.

Tucker

[everythingsxen]

48. Yeah, I can see that

It seems as though Mystery Candidate A will get several votes (at least, I suspect many, many, many more once his agenda is clear) from DU from this thread alone.

[AlienGirl]

50. No one has yet asked the question I'm waiting for.

[Gold Metal Flake]

51. What happens if they do?

I keep having this fever dream that a new populist President is elected in 1932, and it's Huey Long. Amazing how things can go so right or so wrong with a single decision. (I know Huey Long was not running for POTUS in 1932)

[everythingsxen]

49. Kick for leaving work

[everythingsxen]

53. I wonder

How many people will vote for MCA when he arrives on the scene.

[jus_the_facts]

55. "He'll *probably* be a newcomer in politics"....hmmm....

...guess it's not Clark then?! :shrug:

Can you tell me via PM?! :D :hi:

[AlienGirl]

57. Kicking.