The Center
by Jerry Morgan
First, there is precedence for a NY Knickerbocker to run for
high office. It wasn't that long ago that Bill Bradley, a Princeton grad and NY
Knicks star, become the duly elected senior senator from New Jersey and later
ran for President of the United States, losing a primary battle to Al Gore.
I don't know if Jeremy Lin is an Independent, Democrat or a
Republican, but it doesn't matter. He shoots well from all sides of the court
so he can adapt his political rhetoric to fit either party's platform. Or he
could run as a third party candidate, perhaps opting for Mike Bloomberg as his
VP, another prominent New Yorker with minority status and business acumen.
As I see it, however, his best chance for the oval office is
to run as a Republican. Clearly, the GOP is most desperate for a viable candidate
who can beat Obama and still appeal to its conservative base. They are talking
a lot these days about a brokered convention, but their most favored sons: Jeb,
Mitch and Chris are definite nos. So, they may just turn to Lin as a dark horse
candidate to go mano a mano with Barack Obama.
How does Lin stack up against the sitting President?
Ø There
is little doubt that he can beat him to the hoop in a one on one competition.
Ø His
birth certificate shows that he was born in Palo Alto, California, not Taiwan
and not Kenya so any potential birthers should be silenced in this regard.
Ø As undergraduates,
they both attended Ivy League schools. Harvard is generally rated a notch above
Columbia amongst the Ivies. They also have a much better basketball team.
Ø What
did Obama major in at Columbia? Was it poly sci? I know it wasn't economics.
Score one for Lin as the better economist. You don't have to be a lawyer to be
a good President, but considering the state of our economy, we can sure use a
Harvard economist at the helm.
Okay! We have established that Lin beats Obama one on one in
all the important categories. The question is would Lin appeal to the Republican
base?
Well, he is an evangelical Christian and was active in
Christian clubs in Harvard. He has expressed a desire for helping inner city
youth and the poor and would like to one day become a pastor.
This is in stark contrast to Mitt Romney who proudly
proclaims that his campaign is not geared toward the poor but to the middle
class. Hey, Mitt, what middle class? The divergence between the upper and lower
class in this country has all but squeezed the middle class into oblivion with
most heading into the lower strata of our socioeconomic spectrum.
Jeremy Lin would likely appoint judges to the Supreme Court
with a strong conservative bent in an effort to repeal Roe v. Wade. This is
consistent with the GOP platform.
How about Lin on foreign relations? He certainly would help
bridge the gap between the U.S. and the rapidly emerging powerhouse, the People's
Republic of China. How could Premier Wen
Jiabao go against a national hero when half of China is wearing number 17
jerseys on their backs?
It would undoubtedly help resolve
our issues with respect to the rogue states of North Korea and Iran if Lin could
ally China with us on imposing sanctions.
So a Lin presidency should translate
into greatly improved relations with China. And since Jon Huntsman is out of
the race, he would be the only candidate left who speaks Mandarin.
But how would he poll against
Obama? He would go neck and neck with him in Lin's home state of California
which right now is solidly in the blue camp.
He would also poll very well in NY
where his jersey is better advertising than any Super Pac can rival. NYC may be
heavily minority, but it also has a large Asian population. Furthermore, the
Knicks, Rangers, Mets and Yankees would all be in his camp. I call NY state a
toss-up. He will win the south and traditionally Republican bible-belt states,
including Iowa which is up for grabs.
Okay, if he is likely to run
strong, who should he pick for his running mate? Jack Kemp would have been a
good choice had he not died (thank you anonymous). Anyhow, I think he needs to appeal to the middle
by picking a democrat. While not such an obvious choice, my pick for the bottom
of the ticket isn't an athlete; but he is a fixture at the Garden and is a very
good shooter, of movies that is. You guessed it; he will do the right thing as Lin's VP.
Spike Lee would pull his weight
against Obama amongst African Americans and would virtually assure a win in NY
state as well as California. And he has already endorsed him, not only wearing
his jersey, but donning his actual high school jersey.
So, my prediction is a Lin-Lee
ticket for the GOP against Obama-Biden. A race too close to call.
