I found myself watching Dave, with Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver last night.
As a quick recap (or spoiler)…
- The President has a stroke and falls into a coma.
- Kline plays a presidential impersonator and is brought in to “fill in” for the president.
- Eventually, the first lady (Weaver) figures out there’s a cover-up involving Kline (she doesn’t know her husband, The President is still in a coma) and both Kline and Weaver decide to jettison the White House in hopes for an easier life.
But before the leave town they both reflect what they love about the office — helping those in need.
Weaver then asks Kline, “What would you do if you were still there?”
He responds, “A lot of things.”
It’s then that they decide to return to the White House in hopes of creating a better future.
So I’m curious…
What would you do if you were sitting in the Oval Office today?
Given our current situations around the world — oil spill in the gulf, war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran, financial insecurity, health care, homelessness, extreme poverty around the world, immigration, etc. etc…
What priorities would your administration have?
And let’s keep in mind, you really only have 18 months to accomplish it. 😉
From West Wing Season 7 – The Ticket:
(You know I can’t talk about the presidency without bringing in the West Wing — right?)
Matt Santos (Presidential Candidate): I don’t want to wait until transition. I want a plan in place. I want to spend transition hiring a staff that can execute it and on day one I want to get to work, not dickering around for the first three months. You want something to worry about, worry about that.
Leo McGarry (Vice-Presidential Candidate): Okay. Well, let’s start by reframing the question. Forget about a four-year term. The Presidency is 18 months. That’s your window. After that, there’s midterms. No one on the Hill’s got time to do business with you. They’re too busy getting reelected. Then, suddenly, you’re running again.
Santos: So, I’m basically throwing out everything but my first five pages?
McGarry: In the garbage. Realistically, one page, but we can do this in phases.
