In a Monday newspaper column that borrows heavily from the language of Silicon Valley disruptors, former Politico CEO Jim VandeHei laid out a barely cogent “template” for usurping the order of “Establishment America.”
Among VandeHei’s suggestions in The Wall Street Journal were to demolish the “bubble” of Washington, D.C. by hosting meetings of Congress at different locales around “Normal America” and recruiting a political outsider who’s more palatable than Donald Trump or Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to run as a third-party presidential candidate.
The Politico co-founder, who recently departed that company to start a new media venture, also bafflingly suggested an outsider candidate “exploit the fear factor.”
“People are scared. Terrorism is today’s World War and Americans want a theory for dealing with it,” VandeHei wrote.
He continued: “A third-party candidate could build on death-by-drones by outlining the type of modern weapons, troops and war powers needed to keep America safe. And make plain when he or she will use said power. Do it with very muscular language—there is no market for nuance in the terror debate.”
The column reached a bewildering conclusion when VandeHei named the public figures who could lead what he suggested be called “The Innovation Party.”
“Why not recruit Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg or Sheryl Sandberg to head a third-party movement?” VandeHei wrote. “Maybe we can convince Michael Bloomberg to help fund the movement with the billions he planned to spend on his own campaign—and then recruit him to run Treasury and advise the president.”
The column was met with nearly universal ire and mockery. Slate called the take “vapid” and “deranged,” while Huffington Post said VandeHei’s ideal candidate “is a Vladimir Putin type who’s fun on Twitter and can hold court at the Aspen Ideas Festival.”
Others said the column was a thinly-veiled ploy to attract venture capital for his new company.
Jim Vandehei’s new media org is clearly doomed before it starts if this is what he thinks people are clamoring for pic.twitter.com/VUH5iqPCBz
— Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) April 26, 2016
Picture the scene: some monstrous genius from the WSJ edit page overhears Jim VandeHei babbling at a party…
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) April 26, 2016
The audience for VandeHei’s crazy op-ed is NY/DC/SF-based potential investors in his new media venture, not you. It’s the No Labels market.
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 26, 2016
Anyone who believes we are a meritocracy should read Jim VandeHei, who somehow rose to the top of journalism world https://t.co/VsLxIfGVOs
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) April 26, 2016
This post has been updated.
