It was a month or so ago when I wrote a column about McMinnville Mayor Jimmy Haley running for state Senate.
The column brought responses from all over the rainbow, including a harshly worded text message from Mayor Haley himself. I won't divulge the contents of that text, but I will say some of it was written in all caps for emphasis.
Somewhere in the course of conversation, I think I may have agreed to never mention Mayor Haley running for state Senate again. And my word is my bond.
If Haley were to seek higher office, he wouldn't be the first local resident to do so. If you recall, our own Duane Sherrill mounted a failed campaign for U.S. President in 1996 running on the platform of "Guns for Everyone."
Duane was edged by Bill Clinton that year as Clinton had 47.4 million votes to Duane's 7 votes. However, if Duane seeks any consolation, everyone does in fact have a gun.
It was some eight years after Duane's failed presidential bid when I walked in Warren County Administrative Offices and was greeted by a huge sign in the lobby that proudly proclaimed "Wesley Clark for President."
My first thought was president of what? Is the Exchange Club holding a district meeting here? Perhaps he's running for president of that.
It turns out Wesley Clark was running for President of the United States. I chuckled at the time, but I would sure like to be able to vote for Wesley Clark today.
Clark is a retired Army general who wandered off the Republican trail most military men follow and had found a nest in the Democratic party. One of his campaign chords was that he wasn't a normal politician, just a regular guy willing to tidy up the mess caused by politicians.
I'm not sure if Gen. Clark insulted anyone's wife while campaigning or was engulfed in an email scandal, but he was running for U.S. President nonetheless.
Which brings me back to Mayor Haley. As promised, I won't mention him as a candidate for state Senate, but I never said anything about U.S. President. Compared to the oafs we have in the race, Haley looks pretty good right now.
My only question is if Mayor Haley is elected president, would he nominate Lauren Zechman or Ryan J. Moore to be our next Supreme Court Justice?
Perhaps I could be appointed to the CIA as its Director of Intelligence. I'm not exactly sure what I'd be doing, but what a cool title.
Maybe if we had a local guy in the White House, we could conduct a federal study on the Blue Building and spend some real money, millions and millions, determining what to do with it.
All of this is a long way of saying I firmly believe McMinnville Mayor Jimmy Haley is the best candidate to be our next President of the United States.
April Fools' Day.
Standard editor James Clark can be reached at 473-2191.