An absolutely awful Trump presidency sets the scene for dangerously nonchalant reactions to Johnson mulling a run. Enter stage right.

There is a very real chance that this man wins the presidency in 2020 or 2024, and if he does it won’t necessarily be because “we learned nothing from Trump”. Let me finish, shut the fuck up.

So to get everyone that isn’t a ridiculous person on my side, we should all be able to agree that a Johnson Presidency would absolutely be fathoms better than a Trump one for working Americans, international diplomacy, patriotic pride, faith in governance, and the rule of law. No contest. Few will probably doubt those claims, because honestly, could it get that much worse?

Here’s the thing: I’m looking for another Obama, because our boy is term-limited. If you haven’t met him, The Rock is actually super compassionate, prolific in his industry, infinitely likable, very intelligent, extremely patriotic, deeply committed to what he starts, and shows unparalleled leadership abilities. He is shockingly humble and gracious despite his accomplishments, which people fucking love. He has perhaps the best work ethic of any actor alive, aside James Franco. It’s hard NOT to trust someone with his kind of drive, especially if you’ve ever lifted weights because you know the demoralizing realities of slow and incremental progress. The military loves him because he loves them and he shows it. Donald Trump has zero of those things. He doesn’t even come close to any of them, he just didn’t have an email scandal. Few if any Democrats have all of them.

36% of voters see Johnson favorably to 13% with a negative view of him, although 50% of voters have no opinion about him either way. Both Democrats (38/15) and Republicans (31/17) see him positively.

The only thing he’s missing from my personal checklist is legislative experience, but as recent events have shown, the majority of Americans do not care about that, at all, for better or for worse. They never did, either, since people hate people that sound like lawyers, and there’s a long history of likable actors running for high offices, winning, and doing pretty average once there. Donald Trump is a horrible man and the miserable exception to a generally mediocre trend, and even if you disagree with that claim, inferring a causal arrow from “actor” to “bad candidate” demonstrates terrible reasoning. Dwayne Johnson has the work ethic and the intellectual curiosity that Donald Trump lacks to lead an amazing administration and actually work out the complexities of policy and governing. On the spot if necessary, although I agree with my friends screaming at me reading this right now that that isn’t ideal. If this man decides to run on a somewhat Democratic platform, we should throw away the script and put him on a stage, and do so immediately. Because he will win two terms in a heartbeat depending on how the economy does, and assuredly lead America into a new age of measured and polite political discourse. It’s hard to know a lot about his potential platform, but if we know anything for certain it’s that he’ll be running heavily on that last point, and as a moderate he will be able to deliver on it. If he runs for the Republicans, he might save their party and give it a valid direction, for the longer-term, single-handedly, full stop. We cannot allow that to happen, even if it is a slightly better direction than the one their party is currently headed.

For his political part, I think he has pretty moderate, if unclear ideas and I think he can work across the aisle with Democrats. And who’s to say that he will run as a Republican? The man is a registered independent and will likely run as one. But it’s been 16 years since he did something overtly partisan, and the parties have changed a lot. Dwayne has likely changed a lot, too. We could get him on our side. If he’s going to run, we’re going to need to, by the way. He will win in a landslide, because he is the antithesis of Donald Trump. The more people see of him the more they will be deeply enamored by a cult of personality that is, by all available accounts, far more compelling and legitimate than the current President’s.

Because here’s the thing you might not know. Those that have met and worked with the Rock would follow him into a war zone in a heartbeat. He has the best reputation among anyone in entertainment and is by far the best choice out of the pool defined by that industry. Let me re-iterate: I know your gut instinct is to say “have we have learned nothing” due to his background, but you are wrong. The circumstances and life experience of these two men being compared are in no way equivalent or even close. You are being so, so naive and it will backfire if you do not take it seriously.

My fellow Democrats, don’t you DARE look down your nose at this man, and if he runs against you, summon all possible focus to his lack of experience and the specific issues he’s running on, or he will absolutely win the primary, the general and the whole damn show in a historic landslide. He very well might win my vote too, depending on his platform. Wake up.

Everything I’ve said is contingent on his decision to run and get a good campaign together. It’s honestly all up to him.

This is an endorsement of character and not of his potential campaign. Show me a platform I like, Dwayne, and you can 100% have my blessing. You can run with our squad if you do that. We will make room for you at this table and I will use my limited influence to make sure that our older and more craven leaders in the DEC’s understand what I’ve said in this piece. Please sit with us.

I’m done fellating him.

Here’s the poll from which I drew earlier: http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2017/05/health-care-puts-house-in-play.html

Edit: People are telling me his new movie sucks. That seems very likely, he may be the best-paid actor but I certainly don’t think he’s the most talented. Baywatch still looks good for a laugh though