Last year, Michael Crowley and Marshall Wittmann, among others, suggested CNN’s resident bully Lou Dobbs could mount a credible presidential campaign.
Dobbs didn’t express any public interest, but as Wittmann argued, the immigration controversy has led to “a combustible political situation that could provide an opening for an outsider. It has the feel of 1992 when old Ross Perot emerged to shake up the Presidential race…. The Perotistas more or less continue to exist as Republican leaning independents. However, this constituency is likely very dissatisfied with the current situation.”
This week, the WSJ’s John Fund got the rumor mill started again.
Lou Dobbs for President? Don’t laugh. After months of telling reporters that he “absolutely” would not consider leaving his highly-rated CNN show in which he crusades against free trade and illegal immigration, Mr. Dobbs posted a commentary on his Web site last week predicting a surprise new presidential candidate in 2008. The mystery candidate is an “independent populist . . . who understands the genius of this country lies in the hearts and minds of its people and not in the prerogatives and power of its elites.”
Friends of Mr. Dobbs say he is seriously contemplating a race for the first time, although it’s still unlikely. They spin a scenario under which the acerbic commentator would parachute into the race if Michael Bloomberg, the New York billionaire and favorite of East Coast elites, enters the field as an independent. With Hillary Clinton continuing to score badly in polls in the categories of honesty and integrity, and with the public’s many doubts about Rudy Giuliani and other GOP contenders, Mr. Bloomberg may well see an opportunity to roil the political waters by entering the race late. If so, Mr. Dobbs then sees a niche for a “fourth-party” candidate who could paint the three other contenders as completely out of touch.
My friend Melissa McEwan, noting this bizarre scenario, added, “That’s the craziest sh*t I’ve ever heard.”
Agreed. I’d just add, however, that I really doubt Dobbs would even consider such a move.
For one thing, Dobbs is probably exaggerating his own notoriety. I suspect the vast majority of Americans don’t know who he is.
For another, I find it hard to imagine that Dobbs would accept a pay cut of this magnitude.
And most importantly, as Steve M. explained, this entire boomlet seems to have “publicity stunt” written all over it.
Remember when Stephen Colbert put out a book — and announced he was running for president a week later? It was a stunt, right, by a guy who makes fun of politics, meant (among other things) to get him publicity and sell some books? Well, it just so happens that Dobbs just put out a book, er, a week ago. As is so often the case in politics, life imitates satire.
Oh, the Dobbs book just so happens to be called Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit. And, by astonishing coincidence, the fuel for speculation about his candidacy is a post on his Web site that says in part: “I believe the person elected a year from now will be an Independent populist, a man or woman who understands the genius of this country lies in the hearts and minds of its people and not in the prerogatives and power of its elites.”
That’s not a prediction — that’s an attempt to draw attention to his book. And so is the rumor about his candidacy.
I think that’s right. At a minimum, I hope that’s right.