[extropy-chat] POL: A tough election year

[Adrian Tymes]

--- Kevin Freels <kevinfreels at hotmail.com> wrote:
> I sure wish someone here were running for President.
> Every single one of you
> would probably be better than the available
> candidates!!!!

Some of us aren't old enough, or native US citizens.
(There's talk of an amendment to fix the latter, but
said amendment hasn't been ratified - hasn't even
been written up and formally submitted, IIRC - yet.)

Although...what major issues would an Extropian
candidate be able to entice the mainstream US public
on?  We're concerned about immortality; while people
might not be ready for that, they would be receptive
to proposals for increased federal funding for
reasearch into longevity and healthier old age.
(Hello, AARP?)  And probably expanded retraining/adult
education opportunities for the unemployed, focussing
on practical biotech & nanotech as well as small
business administration, in part to balance the lack
of engineers coming out of universities and in part to
better enable the US to dominate new technology
fields (and in part to accelerate the development of
those technologies that will enable the future we
envision), but mainly to try to shake off the
"jobless" part of the "jobless recovery".  (Hello,
anyone whose job has been shipped overseas or
otherwise lost?)

These aren't purely hypothetical questions.  Part of
the campaign strategy of successful Democratic and
Republican candidates, and the reason why third
parties have remained marginalized, is adopting any
significantly popular planks in issues they were
previously undecided on.  Specifically, I'm thinking
that the Extropian Institute could form a list of
positions it advocates on certain issues and submit
them to the major candidates (Kerry, at least; Bush
might have already made up his mind on the issues we
care about) for inclusion in their platform.  Bonus if
we can also get some of the minor candidates to openly
advocate them, as a means of encouraging the majors to
more strongly adopt them (or at least raise the issues
into public consciousness).