
Will Mark Zuckerberg Be Our Next President? - ZeljkoS
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/will-mark-zuckerberg-be-our-next-president?utm_content=buffer3b734&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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general_ai
Only in the wet dreams of California ultra liberals is this even a remote
possibility. To get people to vote for you you need to speak their language,
understand their problems, connect with them. Never once have I seen Zuck
demonstrate any of those qualities.

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geebee
I wasn't under the impression that Zuckerberg had a sterling reputation among
the ultra liberal crowd in California.

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general_ai
That's why I said "remote" possibility. He strikes me as a fairly ordinary
dude with a bit of asperger's who over the course of his entire adult life got
his ego inflated by sycophants on a daily basis. As a result he seems to think
he's some kind of leadership genius, whereas in reality he's essentially in
the same position as Kim Jong Un, except he's much smarter. I don't know if he
realizes this and just plays along, or doesn't even see it, but that facade
will fall over immediately after he enters any kind of adversarial
environment, which is something you kinda have to do if you want to run for
president.

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geebee
I'm definitely not a member of the ultra liberal crowd in terms of my
politics, I'm friends with many who are. The remote possibility that he'd be
president is more of a nightmare for them than a wet dream.

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general_ai
Let me put it in more obvious terms: if he were to run against Trump in 2020,
who would you vote for? What's a "possibility" is largely determined by
circumstances.

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serge2k
The democratic candidate obviously.

Cause he wouldn't win the primary.

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jseliger
I'm reminded of pg's essay on charisma:
[http://www.paulgraham.com/charisma.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/charisma.html).
Zuckerberg appears to have many incredible qualities but charisma does not
seem to be among them, and it's hard to see him overcoming that challenge.

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rst
He's overcome similar sorts of challenges in the past. Early in his career,
Zuckerberg was notoriously awkward on any kind of stage. (His 2008 appearance
at SXSW was, by almost all accounts, a debacle.) Now, he's pretty good in
those kinds of forums. He hasn't yet gotten crowds cheering on a regular
basis, but hasn't yet had to, really. And as a bunch of people have noted by
now, the 50-state challenge seems designed in part to help him practice
speaking to non-technical audiences of the type he'd have to rally in any run
for office.

(And if it takes hiring an acting coach, well, he's got the money. And he
certainly wouldn't be the first politician to quietly take that kind of
professional advice -- even setting aside the ones like Fred Thompson and
Ronald Reagan who already had personal theatrical experience.)

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akhilcacharya
I think it's more likely that he runs for CA governor. I think he knows that
the electoral map for someone like him is limited.

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dragonwriter
Zuckerberg may be President some day, but if so mmn it's almost certainly not
going to be by winning one for the next two elections (he's got a lot of work
to do to be a credible candidate even to the portion of the electorate most
likely to be favorably inclined outside of a very narrow group), so he's not
going to be the _next_ President.

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devoply
anything is possible but i doubt it. how is he going to convince lower middle
class america to elect the first Jewish president who used to be an atheist?
Bill Gates should run though. He'd make a great President.

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asadlionpk
too bad he is focused on real issues.

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programminggeek
Middle America wouldn't vote for Mark.

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fred_is_fred
Like great football players, tech geniuses like him never have anyone say no
to them. This is the result.

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xiaoma
If he _really_ pushed it, how much of a swing could he generate by biasing
Facebook to increase his likability?

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ljk
that's assuming people still use Facebook at that time

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andrewdubinsky
No, he won't.

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rand77763
Maybe he'd be president of the new California Republic. But, I don't see him
in high regard, don't agree with his politics, and don't agree with his
willingness for mass surveillance.

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mdotk
Putin v Zuckerberg - who do you think is gonna win?

