Well, can you believe it? The GOP is pushing to get another popular action hero into California politics, Mel Gibson. Trying to continue to woo the conservative Christian vote, Gibson's epic picture "The Passion" is sure to gain him notoriety as a gubernatorial candidate. More below the fold:
In an LA TIMES story
http://www.latimes.com/...
on December 7th, the article states: "There is even a movement to draft Mel Gibson, the actor and director, to run against Schwarzenegger in the Republican primary next year -- in part because the success of Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ," could help his chances among religious conservatives. Raised in Australia, Gibson was born in New York and is a U.S. citizen, although he has not expressed an interest in elected politics.
"We need to have a good backup," said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a grass-roots organization that is separate from the state party. Spence's group has set up the website, http://www.melgibsonforgovernor.com/ . "He seems to be more consistent with the Republican message" than the governor is, Spence said.
Gibson could not be reached. His spokesman, who was traveling Tuesday, did not return an e-mail and a call for comment."
Is this a new trend, or is the Republican party so smitten with the recent Ronald Reagan's election as the "greatest American in history", that they continue to use that as a model for a successful politician?
In an earlier diary, I wrote of a friend who wrote a book "Oprah for President". It got some good comments and nice poll results, however many questioned her ability to led in a political arena. So I will ask the same poll question of Mel Gibson.
Seeing how California politics have in the past paved the way for a run at the Presidency, is this an attempt to "pad the party". Presently Mel or Arnold can not run for POTUS without a constitutional amendment, but that idea has floated around for several years now. What are the Republicans up too?