Aspie for President!

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Who here thinks this could happen? I mean, Reagan had Alzheimers and Bush is incompetent. I think if an Aspie ran, he'd have a chance. It would all depend on his/her campaign strategy.

We probably have a number of undiagnosed aspies in high political and social positions. Again, I reassert that being an aspie doesn't necessarily mean that one will have a troubled life. There is just no reason to "diagnose" a person who is obviously intelligent, likable, and apparently on his or her way to a resoundingly successful future. A lot of people who end up being loved by millions don't naturally have a high degree of social skill and win people instead through honesty, sincerity, compassion and wisdom. Roosevelt may have been an Aspie. The only reason that Asperger's disorder is considered a disorder at all is that it causes problems for some people. This does not mean that the general set of traits are always going to be debilitative.

Impossible. The social skills necessary for running for high office are so much greater than your average NAS has. Only if we fundamentally changed the way the process worked (say to what it used to be like) would this be possible.

Gordon Brown has been said to be on the spectrum.
So we may have an aspie PM soon.
Doubt he will be any worse than the previous lot.

Yes! I definately think it would happen one day. I am sure of that. Emotions and NT-like social behavior will become outdated and useless. The future belongs to the mind, cretivity and intelligence of the Aspies.

Star

This is going on the assumption that aspies are necessarily socially stunted. This isn't always going to be the case. Digest the possibility that some aspies have been more clever and creative than you. They just wouldn't be diagnosed because, if they learned young how to deal successfully with NTs, they'd just be seen as really nerdy. Though this would be a hazard to them running successfully for political office, it wouldn't be a brick wall.

You're not going to see many diagnosed AS in political office, though. If they had the skills necessary, they would never have been diagnosed. The symptoms of AS, however, don't always warrent diagnosis because some AS are just really clever with learning alternative methods for getting along with people.

It is possible to get there with AS, depending on the level of said AS and other factors. AS is very likely a bit of a handicap though in my opinion.

Well, not necessarily. It depends upon how it manifests. As you know, those who have AS are good at speaking at length on particular issues. This is evident to me in that, in spite of being helpless in social chitchat, I am often called upon to speak on behalf of groups of which I happen to be a member. If it manifests properly, a person with AS may be unusually excellent at delivering public speeches, though he or she may struggle with Q&A sessions. It's a complicated disorder, and a certain manifestation could actually end up delivering an outstanding politician. There are really no absolutes. The aspie who knew how to capitalize upon his or her traits could end up rising very high in the ranks because of the traits associated with this disorder. Many traits and skills are called for in political office, and not all of them are the domain of the NT.

I know that AS can manifest in different ways. Bah, it is useless to discuss the theoretical possibilities for a theoretical person. I did say that it was very likely to be a handicap, but not that it absolutely was going to end up a bad thing. The point I would make though would be that some of these schmoozing social skills would probably be necessary and that would cause some problems. Being a good public speaker is not a necessity, look at our president. Being good with people is quite desirable though. As is the ability to think strategically in these things, which could mean acting in a manner that violates an aspie's sense of ethics.

Not entirely. If the aspie were to put ethics aside entirely or act on the understanding that some ethical sacrifices are necessary on the broader scale of things, thinking strategically in these things, having objectified the matter, would put him/her smack in the middle of aspie territory.

I think we have a lot more Sociopaths in political office than anything else.

Oh, I'm certain that there are quite a few aspie politicians holding office. It's just that the level of greasing required at the highest positions, and the constant duplicity makes it seem more unlikely. At the presidential level, it just gets far too important, to the extent that mere money and brains aren't enough, and serious con-artistry becomes necessary. Could it still happen? Yeah, maybe. I used to be a pretty decent salesperson, before I went berserk trying to deal with it - I just don't think that it's likely that anyone could maintain that facade for the number of years necessary.

From what I understand, as it has been previously mentioned, it woudl need to be a successful individual that has learned to deal with the condition and overcome it. That and a trusted personal advisor/assistant to keep an eye on things. An NT ranked under and AS. I like the thought.

Well, thinking logically is not anti-aspie, however, thinking machiavellian is though.

My goal is to become the President

Possible. Some of those people are cold and corrupt. Nixon really comes to mind.