On July 29th I wrote in this blog that I fantasize about being a candidate for President and using the line “My opponent thinks voters are stupid.” I opined that it would be a killer line and make world headlines.
http://dilbert.com/blog/?Date=2008-07-29
On September 6th, Obama was talking about Republicans in his speech and said, “I mean come on, they must think you’re stupid!” It made world headlines:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/06/obama-republicans-must-think-you’re-stupid/
I figured it was a coincidence. It’s not as if the Obama campaign is reading The Dilbert Blog. But yesterday Google Alert vacuumed up a mention of my name from some corner of the Internet and delivered it to the BlackBerry in my left front pant pocket. I learned that strangers with no credibility have put me on the list of Top-10 Web Celebrities for 2008-2009. To my surprise, someone is actually reading this blog. I always thought all the comments here were from one crazy stalker pretending to be different people.
http://top--10.blogspot.com/2008/09/top-10-web-celebrities-2008-2009.html
The odd thing about blogging, or writing a book, is that you never know who is paying attention. But I do expect a lot of people will visit this blog on Monday when I release the results of my survey of economists, assuming that happens as planned.
One of the things that get me out of bed in the morning is having at least one project brewing that could change the world, no matter how unlikely. My survey of economists fits that model. I don’t expect it to affect this election, but there is a non-zero chance it will change the type of information voters demand. Ideally, someone else would fund a study of economists next year. (It is pricey.)
Votes: +3
Comments
I agree with this position, but would also suggest that there is no such thing as a fit candidate now, because the problem isn't the candidates, it's the situation. There is no way to bring tax *or* services to acceptable levels, because there's such an outrageous backlog of external debt. The fact that the entire political world seems to have accepted GDP as a measure of success only exacerbates the problems.
I'm not a Ron Paul fan, but I would have quite liked him to be president because:
1. his economic stance, though zany, would be a kick in the right direction, and
2. it would be hilarious.
Nuts man, nuts. Thats what the ancestors ate for gas. Its like a yawn. You pass, the next one passes and so on. Scott to Obama to Mcwhats-the-name to the voters...
Now who paid for this?
"I don’t expect it to affect this election, but there is a non-zero chance it will change the type of information voters demand."
Ok, so you are not looking to AFFECT the election--how 'bout to EFFECT the election?
You ARE a professional writer--maybe you've got this one figured out (affect/effect)...
You could start up a non-profit and collect funds on the Internet to pay for your economic surveys.
- First of all, the premise that the economy is the most important issue for this election. That may be true, because that's what the voters say ... Is it therefore the most important issue for the country? In my opinion, a 'good country' has a functioning economy indeed, but other values are more important.
- Economy is no hard science. My daughter-in-law started studying economy last year after she broke off a study in bio-chemics. The university has a good reputation (Marburg). She says economics is a laugh. It is easy, and it has almost no ingredients of a 'hard' science. Nothing can be proven, it is a lot like social science. The only tough subject is stochastics.
[I think both candidates are unfit. You will see that slant. -- Scott]
'There is an inexorable historical process under
way..it will sweep away the insufferably
arrogant assumption made by the present
industrial relations system that men and
women in Australia are too stupid to be
trusted with the responsibility of deciding
what is good for them.’
maybe scott is his own stalker multi-aliased commenter... XD
anyway... it seems that most people focused on the "no one ever reads my blog" thing... so to follow the thread here is my excuse: it takes time to read thru some of the concepts, and posting a comment just will take me more time (like right now... ive spent 3 to 5 minutes...) and the fact that you (scott) are a celebrity, I dont think you would need a comment or 2 from me to help to build your ego everyday... you got more than enough when you percieve that someone on the other side of the world is alughing and/or thinking about what you wrote.
and by the way... sue Obama for using your "Catch Phrase"... or at lest get him to put you on one of his commercials saying: "I Scot Adams, approve this message"... that would be pretty neat... hahaha
Too bad it doesn't have a cash payout.
