J.C. Watts

I always liked J.C. Watts when he was in the House. I used to see him as a future presidential candidate. He has left politics, and apparently has no ambition to run for anything. The Dartmouth Online writes

In an interview with The Dartmouth, Watts quashed speculation about his political ambitions and commented on the influence of race on politics.

Speculation about a 2008 presidential run was fueled by his visit to New Hampshire, a forthcoming syndicated column and success in a popular online straw poll. But Watts dismissed such conjectures, saying he has no plans to run for political office.

"It's not on my top five things-to-do-before-I-die list," he said, but added, "never say never."

If he ever chose to run for office again, his combination of looks (let's face it, those are important in the TV age), eloquence, style, and substance would make for a formidable candidate.

On the Social Security debate,

Watts criticized President Bush's social security plan, saying that the President should focus on more than just privatized accounts. But the Democrats, he said, have failed to propose any plan of their own.

With all the focus on the president's plan for private (or personal, whatever the latest polls say the word should be) accounts, it seems to have escaped everyone's notice, except for Watts', that the Democrats have proposed precisely 0 alternatives to address the issues of Social Security. Yet another example of the breakdown of Congress, with the body doing nothing to actually solve problems facing the nation.