290 people have filed with the FEC to run for President of the US in 2012

[apples and oranges]

http://www.fec.gov/press/press2011/presidential_form2nm.shtml

I wonder why we don't hear about them that much?

[gateley]

1. I'm disappointed to see Lee Mercer, Jr. is not among the contenders.

:(

[tabbycat31]

2. President Emperor Caesar is one of the contenders

[belcffub]

5. don't leave out

Warren Roderick President Ashe... sounds very Presidential

[KamaAina]

7. He may face a runoff against H.R.M. Caesar St. Augustine de Buonaparte

:eyes:

[TheWraith]

3. Because 99.5% of them are kooks, weirdos, and delusional people.

There are exactly two people who'll have a chance to win in 2012: President Obama, and whoever the Republicans pick. It doesn't take rocket science to figure that out.

[Angry Dragon]

9. That is what makes them perfect politicians

[woo me with science]

11. Wow, what automatic hostility, contempt, and condescension

directed toward people you don't even know.

Way to characterize "most of them" when you do not even know these people. Perhaps they are simply not wealthy enough to have a voice.

Or perhaps they are citizens making a deliberate statement about how difficult it is to participate in our electoral process if you are not a wealthy, corporate-backed Republican or Democrat.

[TheWraith]

12. I'm not required to respect the beliefs of nuts.

It's really a simple equation. There are going to be two serious candidates next year; anyone who thinks they're getting elected as a third party candidate is delusional. Sorry, but that's reality. And if you're trying to "make a statement" about how horrible it is that there are two parties in a two party system, you're not deluded but simply a fool, just as much as if you were protesting how the sun only shines for half the day. With two basic political philosophies, in a first-past-the-post election you are going to have only two viable parties. Period.

Although your assertion that only a "wealthy, corporate backed" candidate can get elected is kind of funny, when you've spent so much time and energy trying to tear down a guy who was not only not even close to wealthy before running for President, but refused corporate PAC donations of any kind and was brought into office on the strength of small donors.

[woo me with science]

13. And again the words come with namecalling,

sheer nastiness, and bile. And of course it is all about *me*....again.

What utter nonsense in that post. *Of course* our candidates are corporate-backed, and *of course* corporate influence is a major problem in our elections. To claim otherwise is to depart from reality as acknowledged even by those who are part of the problem.

All the defensiveness and vitriol in the world do not change that.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. MIA: Tom Laughlin (Billy Jack).

He's run a number of times.

No "Billy Jack Goes To Washington" in 2012.

http://www.billyjack.com/

[undeterred]

6. They should give a breathalyzer test so you can't file when drunk.

All men think they should be president, especially when they are drunk.

[KamaAina]

8. You know what would be really cool? A montage of sound bites from all 290.

In alphabetical order. That way we'd get to see, for instance, whether George Christian Pedersen or Carl E. Person might actually have more on the ball than Rick Perry.

[NeedleCast]

10. That's Setting The Bar Pretty Low