ahc wi President Dolly Parton
- Thread starter Derek Jackson
- Start date
My flippant answer is election posters with a picture of her displaying her pavarottiesque cleavage with the slogan "Two good reasons to vote for me!" The feminists will hate it, but anyone with half a sense of humour will love it.
I mean, she's invested a significant portion of her significant income into her community even IRL, and most likely improved the lives of quite a few adult women and, especially, young girls - if that's not feminist, I don't know what is. And as... sexually charged as she can be, I'm 100% sure that if anyone ever tried to shame her for that, on the right or on the left, they'd end up on the receiving side of the kind of burn you could set fire to a whole city with.
Jokes aside she's a very clever woman and America could (and did) do a lot worse. Look at her history. Dirt poor childhood to very successful performer and multi millionaire business woman with as far as I know not even a hint of scandal or shady practices.
I posted this to a similar thread about a year ago:
From what I understand, Dolly Parton made, and makes a major effort to avoid alienating her fans, because she knows they come from all across the political spectrum. I think that centrism would serve her well come election time. I am thinking of the constituencies that she could talk to in their own language: She is a feminist, but she does not use the language of the left-wing feminist movement. Women, check. Those afraid of feminists, check. Because she came from poverty, she can authentically speak to poor and working class people. Check. She very obviously comes from the South. Southerners, check. She is an ambitious and successful entrepreneur. Business class, check. I’m sure I could dig up song lyrics and deeds to support her anti-racist and environmental credentials if I spent a few more minutes.
She seems to take the advice of smart people around her, so she would build a good team to support her Presidency. She is really smart, and those that underestimate her would do so at their peril. She has a natural (actually very calculated) charm that she could weaponize for diplomatic purposes. I think a lot of macho foreign leaders would agree with whatever she said just to get the phot op. Political opponents would be expected to try and satirize her, but she has such a sweet demeanor that there is a high probability that tactic would backfire and make the offender look like a mean spirited asshole.
And I cannot actually decide whether she would be more at home in the Democratic or Republican Party.
I think best president America never had.
From what I understand, Dolly Parton made, and makes a major effort to avoid alienating her fans, because she knows they come from all across the political spectrum. I think that centrism would serve her well come election time. I am thinking of the constituencies that she could talk to in their own language: She is a feminist, but she does not use the language of the left-wing feminist movement. Women, check. Those afraid of feminists, check. Because she came from poverty, she can authentically speak to poor and working class people. Check. She very obviously comes from the South. Southerners, check. She is an ambitious and successful entrepreneur. Business class, check. I’m sure I could dig up song lyrics and deeds to support her anti-racist and environmental credentials if I spent a few more minutes.
She seems to take the advice of smart people around her, so she would build a good team to support her Presidency. She is really smart, and those that underestimate her would do so at their peril. She has a natural (actually very calculated) charm that she could weaponize for diplomatic purposes. I think a lot of macho foreign leaders would agree with whatever she said just to get the phot op. Political opponents would be expected to try and satirize her, but she has such a sweet demeanor that there is a high probability that tactic would backfire and make the offender look like a mean spirited asshole.
And I cannot actually decide whether she would be more at home in the Democratic or Republican Party.
I think best president America never had.
FWIW from what I've seen and heard of her in TV and radio interviews she has "that sort" of sense of humour.I mean, she's invested a significant portion of her significant income into her community even IRL, and most likely improved the lives of quite a few adult women and, especially, young girls - if that's not feminist, I don't know what is. And as... sexually charged as she can be, I'm 100% sure that if anyone ever tried to shame her for that, on the right or on the left, they'd end up on the receiving side of the kind of burn you could set fire to a whole city with.
E.g. I remember a radio interview with Johnny Walker about 20 years ago (when he was doing the Radio 2 drivetime show) in which he suggested building a second Millennium Dome (now the O2) alongside the existing one and they would form the centrepiece of the London branch of Dollywood. That tickled her fancy. That or she's a very good actress and to be fair, that is one of her many talents.
George W Bush is afraid to lose Tennessee to Al Gore (whose home state is Tennessee), and promises to make Dolly Parton as his Secretary of Education (due to her enormous charity efforts in literacy and education).
Dolly actually does a decent job and turns No Child Left Behind Act into a much more decent bill, as well as doing other things for education.
In 2004, a pissed off Bush gets rid of Cheney and replaces him with Dolly, who does an amazing job as VP, notably supporting veterans and getting on top of things in Katrina.
By the time 2008 comes around, everybody hates Bush but still loves Dolly. Dolly doesn't run, but McCain wins the nomination and persuades Dolly to be his VP, under the condition that McCain adopts more of a Blue Dog agenda than Neo Con to hold onto the rust belt.
McCain/Parton lose the popular vote but win the EC. McCain dies in office and Dolly Parton becomes president.
Dolly actually does a decent job and turns No Child Left Behind Act into a much more decent bill, as well as doing other things for education.
In 2004, a pissed off Bush gets rid of Cheney and replaces him with Dolly, who does an amazing job as VP, notably supporting veterans and getting on top of things in Katrina.
By the time 2008 comes around, everybody hates Bush but still loves Dolly. Dolly doesn't run, but McCain wins the nomination and persuades Dolly to be his VP, under the condition that McCain adopts more of a Blue Dog agenda than Neo Con to hold onto the rust belt.
McCain/Parton lose the popular vote but win the EC. McCain dies in office and Dolly Parton becomes president.
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My serious answer (which is based in part from the other posts) is that President Parton seems too good to be true. She's 3 years younger than the current President and I believe that one has to be over 40 to run for the office. Therefore, she could have been elected in any of the Presidential elections since 1988 when she was 42.
Correction 35. See post by @marktaha.
Correction 35. See post by @marktaha.
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Half-seriously and half as a joke. Would Kenny Rogers, Kris Kristofferson or Willie Nelson be her VP?
Edit: Or Johnny Cash?
Edit: Or Johnny Cash?
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It has to be Kenny Rogers.
I do see one problem with a Dolly Parton Presidency.
The satirists will have a field day with this.
I do see one problem with a Dolly Parton Presidency.
The satirists will have a field day with this.
He was my choice too because Wanda Rogers as Second Lady would have given the President a run for her money.
I get the impression that she'd take that in her stride and possibly use it to her advantage.
Plus we're discussing the nation that elected Dan Quayle, Bill Clinton (who admittedly was good at his job), George W. Bush and Donald Trump.
Thanks for the correction. That would have made her 2½ months too young to for the 1980 election as she was born on 19th January 1946.
This isn't really too hard and I have crafted two different scenarios before so here we go.
Republican Scenario
in 1994 famous Country music singer Dolly Parton announces her intention to run for Governor of Tennessee under the Republican banner she wins the nomination from Don Sundquist and defeats Phil Bredsen in the general, and she wins reelection in 98.
Come 2000 the popular Governor Parton announces that she is going to run for President she comes in second or third in Iowa and third in New Hampshire. Then Bush hits McCain with the scandal he did IOTL in South Carolina however Bush's DUI breaks weeks before the primary and Parton who has stayed out of the mudslinging fray so far wins in South Carolina and goes on to win the nomination. She selects Senator McCain as her running mate and she uses her southern charm and charisma to defeat Gore in the general even winning the popular vote.
Democratic Scenario
in 1994 famous Country music singer Dolly Parton announces her intention to run for Governor of Tennessee under the Democratic banner she defeats Phil Bredesen in the primary and goes on to win the general. She wins reelection in 2006 with over 60% of the vote.
Come 2008 the popular Governor Parton announces her intention to run for President she enters a crowded field and starts around the middle of the pact bus she uses her wit, southern charm, and charisma to rise in the polls eventually winning Iowa to the shock of many. She comes in second behind Dodd in New Hampshire and wins South Carolina in a landslide. Obama and Clinton drop out and endorse Parton who goes on to sweep Super Tuesday over the likes of Dodd, Richardson, etc.
After winning the nomination she has a tough choice to make, she selects former Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle as her running mate and the two go on to defeat the ticket of Arizona Senator John McCain and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty in the general.
Republican Scenario
in 1994 famous Country music singer Dolly Parton announces her intention to run for Governor of Tennessee under the Republican banner she wins the nomination from Don Sundquist and defeats Phil Bredsen in the general, and she wins reelection in 98.
Come 2000 the popular Governor Parton announces that she is going to run for President she comes in second or third in Iowa and third in New Hampshire. Then Bush hits McCain with the scandal he did IOTL in South Carolina however Bush's DUI breaks weeks before the primary and Parton who has stayed out of the mudslinging fray so far wins in South Carolina and goes on to win the nomination. She selects Senator McCain as her running mate and she uses her southern charm and charisma to defeat Gore in the general even winning the popular vote.
Democratic Scenario
in 1994 famous Country music singer Dolly Parton announces her intention to run for Governor of Tennessee under the Democratic banner she defeats Phil Bredesen in the primary and goes on to win the general. She wins reelection in 2006 with over 60% of the vote.
Come 2008 the popular Governor Parton announces her intention to run for President she enters a crowded field and starts around the middle of the pact bus she uses her wit, southern charm, and charisma to rise in the polls eventually winning Iowa to the shock of many. She comes in second behind Dodd in New Hampshire and wins South Carolina in a landslide. Obama and Clinton drop out and endorse Parton who goes on to sweep Super Tuesday over the likes of Dodd, Richardson, etc.
After winning the nomination she has a tough choice to make, she selects former Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle as her running mate and the two go on to defeat the ticket of Arizona Senator John McCain and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty in the general.
That's the trick with bringing entertainers into politics, put him in charge of Education. Just ask Peter Garrett.
I know it's the wrong singer, but I'd be down for a TL named "I Beg Your Pardon, I'll Meet You in the Rose Garden".
You have to be 35 by Inauguration Day, not by Election Day, so technically she was old enough (by just one day) to run in 1980!