Welcome to American politics in 2018: On Thursday, the nation’s top political story was a televised meeting between a rap musician and a reality-TV star. In this case the rapper was mega-media star Kanye West and the reality TV guy now has a gig as president of the United States.
Two nights later, that televised celebrity encounter was re-“televised” on Saturday Night Live, with movie and TV star Alec Baldwin playing the role of President Trump.
The next night, that same Alec Baldwin was standing in front of 800 Democratic activists in New Hampshire — home of the “First-In-The-Nation” presidential primary — declaring “Let’s ‘Make America Great Again’ by making Donald Trump a failed casino operator again!”
The number one topic of conversation around the Manchester, New Hampshire hotel when Baldwin was done was, “Will he be the next TV star to become president of the United States?”
“Do I think Alec Baldwin is likely to be the nominee? No. But will he run? He may. Will [Stormy Daniels’ attorney] Michael Avenatti run? He probably will,” veteran Democratic strategist Bob Shrum told the Washington Post. The subject of the article was the spike in the number of celebrities with no political experience who are making the list of potential 2020 candidates. Also on the list:
- Reality TV star and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban;
- Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson;
- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg;
- and (of course) Oprah Winfrey.
Not to mention political “celebrities” like Michelle Obama or billionaire and environmental activist Tom Steyer.
Is this the future of American politics? Reality TV stars and media-savvy CEOs? Just a few years ago, Kanye West vs. Alec Baldwin in a battle for the White House would have sounded like a sketch rejected by SNL because it was implausible.
What sounds crazy today? Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker vs. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Not that celebrity politics is anything new. The obvious example is Ronald Reagan, though by…
