One of sports media’s most prolific yappers is once again mulling a presidential bid. In a recent interview with CNBC’s Alex Sherman, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith reaffirmed his interest in taking up residence in the White House, but with a significant caveat: he does not wish to campaign. “The one thing I don’t want to do is run for office. I wouldn’t mind being in office, but running for it is a problem,” Smith explained. “I’m not one of those dudes that’s great at shaking hands and kissing babies, per se, and currying favor with politicians and donors. I’m not a beggar. That’s not who I am.”
Of course, the act of campaigning is an obvious prerequisite for actually becoming President of the United States, yet that hasn’t deterred Smith from imagining a scenario where he could take the stage as a candidate. “Now if you told me I could bypass all of that, and I could go up on that stage on national television for a presidential debate and then go against some of the people I’ve seen, you name the time and place and I’ll show up. If you tell me that I could catapult to the White House, and I could be in a position to affect millions upon millions of lives, not just in America, but the world over, yeah, that’s something that I would entertain. Not because I think that I know more than any of those people. Not because I think that I’m more knowledgeable. It’s because I know that my spirit is in the right place, and I’m intelligent enough to know what I don’t know, to listen to smarter people in the room, and to have people surrounding me that are conscientious about what’s in the best interest of this country and the best interest of this world.”
“Do I believe I could pull that off? Yes, I do.” That kind of self-belief certainly is a prerequisite for running for office. However, whether Stephen A. is truly considering a bid for president or merely playing the media like a fiddle is anyone’s guess.
