Roseanne For President ?

Last October the Green Party had their first candidate announce a run for the party's presidential nomination. It was Dr. Jill Stein, a mother of two from Massachusetts. Dr. Stein graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Medical School with honors. In addition to being a practicing physician, she has written two books -- and she has a long history of support and activism for progressive causes. She is a serious and qualified candidate with only one real flaw -- no one in America has ever heard of her (and she won't have much money to rectify that).

Now a new candidate has tossed her hat into the race for the Green Party nomination for president. And this new candidate certainly doesn't have a name-recognition problem. In fact, I would venture a guess that nearly everyone in the United States knows who this new celebrity candidate is. That candidate is comedian Roseanne Barr.

Last Thursday Roseanne Barr announced she is now a candidate for the Green Party nomination. She told reporters that she has filed the necessary paperwork with the party, and is serious about running because the two major parties aren't serving the American people. She went on to say she has long believed in the principles of the Green Party.

In her announcement statement she said, "The Democrats and Republicans have proven that they are servants -- bought and paid for by the 1% -- who are not doing what's in the best interest of the American people." She went on to say, "I will barnstorm American living rooms. Mainstream media will be unable to ignore me, but more importantly they will be unable to overlook the needs of average Americans in the run-up to the 2012 election."

Since hearing of her entrance into the race, I have been considering it and I'm still not sure what to think about it. I like the Green Party and agree with its stated beliefs. I would like to see them do well enough to stay on my state's ballot a couple of years from now. And if the poll's show that President Obama has no chance of carrying Texas, I might vote for the Green Party presidential candidate (to help them stay on the ballot two years from now).

There is no doubt that Roseanne Barr would get a lot more press coverage than Dr. Jill Stein ever could. The question is what kind of coverage would it be. At times in the past, Roseanne Barr has displayed an inability to restrain her comedic side and has sometimes looked like a buffoon. If she does that during the campaign, she could make the Green Party look like a joke. On the other hand, if she could run a serious campaign, she could bring some good publicity to the party.

The delegates to the Green Party convention in Baltimore next July will have a tough choice to make. I just hope they make the right choice, whoever they choose.