Up until a few days ago, I hadn't even clicked on any of the headlines talking about Roseanne Barr announcing she was running for president. I thought of it as sort of like Stephen Colbert's fake presidential campaign except, you know, he's actually funny... and his satire is a brilliant force of highlighting some of the worst parts of our country's politics. But if this year's race is close, a couple points in one or two of the battleground states could decide the election, much like Ralph Nader in Florida in 2000, and I hadn't heard of anyone else with any sort of name recognition having thrown their names in the pot.
So I don't really take her candidacy seriously, but I do take the potential for a serious effect, uh... seriously.
The last word of the first paragraph was intentional, but, even for a joke like Barr, pot legalization isn't her only issue. You might not think that from how some of the articles have been talking about her, though. With the only other Green Party candidate that is seen as a contender for the nomination, Jill Stein, being a longtime activist and two time candidate under the Green Party banner (in Massachusetts state level races), we'll find out if a fame is more important to the Green Party base than substance.
Roseanne Barr's platform rolls off like it was culled from a poll of Occupy Wall Street signage. If you click on the "ROSEANNE for POTUS" button on the top right of her personal website (she doesn't have a campaign website yet)*, the second post on the blog page get started with this:
Mother earth IS DOMINANT over anything created by Monsanto and companies!
Mother earth IS DOMINANT over anything created by Monsanto and companies!
Mother earth IS DOMINANT over anything created by Monsanto and companies!
I'm not sure I even know what calling Mother Earth is dominant means, or why Earth isn't capitalized, but the sentiment is in the right place. It's beyond absurd that the Obama administration has hired a former Monsanto executive to work for the FDA, as is allowing the company to copyright the genetic code of naturally occurring plants.
I had to dig around elsewhere to find some more of her views, and her Twitter feed was the connection with the Occupy movement comes in. Not only is she for legalization of marijuana and in support of gay rights, she'd somehow magically give the country single-payer healthcare within in the first 100 days in office and forgive all student loan debt. Even more confusing than her pipe dream of thinking she could pass single-payer healthcare, though, is her assertion that she could change America's primary protein source away from meat, and get rid of all sorts of personal debt... which apparently could be accomplished by "kicking out the FED."
Speaking of Barr's Twitter feed... literally while I was looking at said feed, she let loose with this nugget:
For what it's worth-I am dead serious about representing the American People in politics, and in running for the Green Party nomination.
Which appears to be a response to this tweet from Bill Maher from a couple minutes earlier:
The difference between Roseanne running for president and Newt Gingrich running for president? With Roseanne, liberals know its a joke.
I'm not sure there could be a more appropriate, and for me timely, illustration of how much of a joke Roseanne Barr really is. Beyond the earlier question of whether the Green Party base will choose a respectable Green Party activist, in Jill Stein, or a B list celebrity joke that would almost assuredly bring more media attention, the real question is whether that campaign will have any effect on the general election.
*Updated: She does now: Check out her campaign website here.
Solomon Kleinsmith is a former nonprofit worker, serial social entrepreneur and strident centrist independent blogger from Omaha, Nebraska. His website, Rise of the Center, is the fastest growing blog targeting centrist independents and moderates.
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Comments [8]
I DID look for her campaign website you jerk. There was no link on her personal website (a button saying Rosanne for Presidnet took me to her blog) no link on her twitter feed that I saw, and I searched through a few pages of Google results. Grow up.
Nevermind the article, the comments above are attacking based on fear. The fear... Due to criminal and constitutional abuses so prevalent throughout government and industry, the awakening created by a system breakdown will turn the voter in the direction of a candidate known for a might, and longtime familiarity on a human level, unlike those who operate behind closed doors.
Roseanne Barr represents a quality so lacking in the duality of profession by candidates of the career variety. She's real. Commedy most appreciated is always derived on truth.
If elected, Roseanne Barr will not be the first political candidate who captured appeal from the theatrical stage. I won't include Reagan in this lot. Unlike Jesse Ventura and Al Franken, Reagans' talent was taking directions. He was not a man of his making, nor an intellectual thinker.
Solomon,
In your above column, you state unequivocally that "she doesn't have a campaign website yet." This is patently false and given the snarky tone of your above piece, it's no wonder you didn't make an effort to find it and instead ass-umed it doesn't exist. It's posted clearly on the Federal Election Commission's website as well as on the website of the Green Party of the United States. In case the below URL is blocked from comments, it's roseanneforpresident dot com. Please issue a correction on the above piece. Thank you.
http://www.roseanneforpresident.com/
@Mike from NJ : BAHAHAHAHA - You couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm not blaming the Green Party for Al Gore's loss. That's AL GORE'S fault. I particularly loathe that argument from dems actually. It assumes that those votes were anyone else's but the voters who cast them.
I'm just analyzing potential ramifications here. I'm not sure whether Stein or Barr would pull more votes, from Obama or from non-Obama voters. Hard to tell... given how much of a freakshow Barr is, vs how little name recognition Stein has. And if you think Rosanne is "more rational than you would have us believe", then you haven't read what she's said. She's not a loon because of her positions, she's a loon because she's a freak show. Jill Stein has views roughly as extreme, and she doesn't strike me as crazy. As much as I disagree with most of what I've come across that she's said, I have great respect for serious activists, who fight for what they believe in in a civil enough manner.
@John from SW Ohio : Pathetic cherry pick / red herring job. I didn't say that support of legalization of marijuana or gay rights were extremist positions. I support both. Even extremists like her, Ron Paul, etc have SOME mainstream positions.
Haha... and if you think she's "engaging in the political discussion in this country", you haven't been paying attention. Where Colbert's satire is overt, she appears to actually think she's serious. Not even a hard left guy like Bill Maher buys into her kooky BS.
Nothing here but fear and loathing from a typically muddled "centrist" still blaming the Green Party for lovable Al Gore's Florida debacle. Easy to dis Roseanne for laying it all on the line, but she's more rational than you would have us believe. In a male dominated society her sense of justice and outspoken truth will also resonate with those who previously had no reason to vote.
Wow...Roseanne Barr running for President??? I like her alot she is AWESOME I still watch all the Roseanne re-run's on t.v. That's crazy I had no idea she was into the Green Party's presidential nomination.
A - Roseanne is way funnier than Stephen Colbert. His "brilliant" satire is obvious and repetitive. He is a massive disappointment as a comedian compared to his mentor, John Stewart. Roseanne (the show) on the other hand was an endlessly funny, relatable, smart look at ordinary working/middle class American life.
B - Legalization of marijuana and support of gay rights are not extremist positions. They are well represented opinions in the center-left in this country and among voters under 30 they are eminently mainstream. Your shot at Roseanne as being a B-list celebrity is childish and misses the point. After all, as a candidate for the Green Party she's not lobbying for a star on the hollywood sidewalk (which for all I know she already has), she's engaging in the political discussion in this country, and is just as equipped to do this as were Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I love Roseanne & I would vote for her!!!
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