Experience of Democratic Presidential Hopefuls

Hard to believe, but there are 25 declared Democratic presidential candidates out there. How are we going to ever tell them apart?

Well, one very traditional method was to look at their experience. And here I mean political experience. Yeah, running a company or marshaling troops are great experience, they are a tad indirect. But it's just not the same.


Methodology

And by political experience, I don’t mean dog catcher or school board. I’m talking about something with some serious chops. Something at the federal level is an obvious choice. But even here there’s a big difference between VP or Senator and a clerk at the State Department or air traffic controller with the FAA. In particular, I see the following as totally legit:

• VP
• Cabinet secretary 
• US Senator
• US Rep

Now, how about something more local? Governor’s an obvious one. Not so sure about lieutenant governor though, or state senator, or anything below governor level really.

One thing I like about being governor is that it’s an executive position – i.e., it’s kind of like being the president of your own state. Same thing goes for mayors. Of course, Possum Lick, AR has a mayor, so they’re really not all equal, are they? Judgement call, right? So, Pete Buttigieg, you’re in! Wayne Messam, mayor of Miramar FL? Sorry.

Results

So, this is how it all broke out:

Notes:

• Biden wins pretty easily.
• Sanders is, not too surprisingly, pretty close on his heels.
• There’s a definite group at 12 years or so.  And that group represents some definite names – Booker, Klobuchar, Gillibrand – with some definite who-dat’s as well.
• There are no less than 9 with 6 years, including a fair amount of front runners – Buttigieg, Warren, O’Rourke. Some of the rest, though, I’d never even heard of before.
• Kamala Harris has been in the US Senate only a year! Well, I’ll be dipped.
• The actual nominee’s probably going to be either Andrew Yang or Marianne Williamson. I mean, it worked for Trump, right?

More Notes:

• Only 1 candidate was in 3 or more positions - Bernie Sanders.
• Amy Klobuchar had the most years in 1 position - 12 years as a US Senator
• The greatest number of candidates were US senators:

• The Senate also accounts for the most years in office - in fact, about half

Famous Stars Who Started Out in Terrible Movies

You gotta start somewhere. C’mon, you’re a kid from Indiana, you took a Greyhound to Hollywood, you’ve got a job at TGI Friday’s ... You’re going to take whatever you can get.

And that’s especially the case if you weren’t already famous through some other route – Hollywood royalty, Broadway, TV, singer, comedian … I’m talking Julie Andrews, Carrie Fisher, Jennifer Anniston, Doris Day, Bette Midler, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy …

Now, chances are it’s not going to be a starring role either. I mean, it’s bad enough to be in Zombie Bikers from Outer Space, but if you’re also an extra, or uncredited, or 2^nd barmaid, it’s gonna hurt even more. (That said, you might just be a nobody in a really good flick. Did you know, for example, that Morgan Freeman’s first role was as an extra in The Pawnbroker?)

So, who are these folks?

Methodology

1. Looked at a couple of lists of the top 100 actors and actresses
2. Found their first movie on IMDb (excluding shorts, videos, etc. – but more than happy to include TV movies)
3. Saw what the ranking was, going with those that were less than 5.0 out of 10
4. Listed them here

12  Tom Hanks

He Knows You’re Alone – 4.9

Elliot

A reluctant bride to be is stalked by a serial killer who only kills brides and the people around them. While her friends get whacked one by one, a hard boiled renegade cop whose bride had been killed years before tries to hunt him down before it is too late. Meanwhile, the bride has to figure out if it is all in her imagination or not, aided by her ex-boyfriend.

"Every girl is frightened the night before her wedding, but this time... there's good reason!"

  

11 Tom Cruise

Endless Love – 4.8

Billy

Two young teenagers, Jade Butterfield and David Axelrod, fall in love with each other. But the passion is too consuming for Jade's bohemian parents. Her parents try to stop them from seeing each other. But when this doesn't work, David burns down the house and is sent to a mental hospital. This doesn't stop him from seeing her. When he gets out, he goes to look for her and remains in love with her. But in the end, the passion for his first love is too strong and she has to leave or this love will kill both of them.

"She is 15. He is 17. The love every parent fears."

10 Joe Pesci

Hey, Let’s Twist! – 4.8

Dancer at the Peppermint Club (uncredited)

The rise, fall and rise again of the Peppermint Lounge nightclub is chronicled. The sons of the Peppermint Lounge nightclub owner nearly topple the club's initial success by redesigning the place but realize their mistake.

"The Exciting Movie About THE Sensation!"

9 Paul Newman

The Silver Chalice – 4.7

Basil

A Greek artisan is commissioned to cast the cup of Christ in silver, and sculpt around its rim, the faces of the disciples and Jesus. He travels to Jerusalem and eventually to Rome to complete the task. Meanwhile, a nefarious interloper is trying to convince the crowds that he is the new Messiah, by using nothing more than cheap parlor tricks.

"I bid you seek the lost Silver Cup... for Sin is rising like the swollen rivers..."

8 Demi Moore

Choices – 4.7

Corri

Partially deaf teenager Carafotes becomes alienated when prevented from playing football because of his handicap. He must deal with his parents, coach, teammates, his new girlfriend and a bad crowd he almost falls into, before confronting the school board.

"Youth won't always take no for an answer!"

7 Leonardo Di Caprio

Critters 3 – 4.3

Josh

In what appears to be a cross between Critters and The Towering Inferno, the residents of a shoddy L.A. apartment block are chased up to the roof by hoards of the eponymous hairy horrors.

"You are what they eat"

6 Robin Williams

Can I Do It Until I Need Glasses? – 4.3

Lawyer / Man with Toothache

A comedy comprised of short sexually suggestive skits

"It's the nuttiest, naughtiest, looniest, gooniest, funniest madcap comedy of the year!"

Actually a year or two before

5 Charlize Theron

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest – 4.1

Eli’s Follower (uncredited)

Two young Gatlin residents are orphaned after the younger brother kills their father. So, the terror of Gatlin goes urban when the two boys are placed in the custody of two foster parents. The younger brother (who by this point is established as the "evil one") bought some corn seeds along for the road and plants them in the courtyard of an abandoned warehouse, bring He Who Walks Behind the Rows to the city. He winds up possessing his high school peers, and soon his older brother feels called to stop him.

"An Adult Nightmare is about to show its face in the heart of a city!"

4 George Clooney

Grizzly II: The Concert – 3.8

Ron

All hell breaks loose when a giant Grizzly, reacting to the slaughter of Grizzlies by poachers, attacks at a massive big-band rock concert in the National Park.

"The Stage Is Set... And The Dinner Is Served."

3 Julia Roberts

Firehouse – 3.1

Babs (uncredited)

Some sexy women get out of Fire Fighter School and go for the jobs they trained for, but first they must survive their male counterparts teasing them.

"When the fire's out...the heat is on"

2 Sandra Bullock

Hangmen – 3.0

Lisa Edwards

Danny Greene is just like every sixteen-year-old kid...except that a secret splinter group of the CIA wants him dead. Danny Greene is running for his life. Enter Danny's father, an ex-Greene Beret equipped with a rag-tag bunch of urban guerillas and an entire arsenal of weaponry. But can five former commandos defeat the largest, most thorough network of government-sanction assassins in the world? In this high-stakes world, before the case even gets to trial, someone's already called the Hangmen.

"In this world no one is innocent, and if you want to live, you've got to beat the Hangmen."

Yup, that's a kaffeya

1 Harrison Ford

Malibu Hot Summer – 2.5

John Logan

John Logan is a poor little rich boy. He learns to love from three nubile L.A. newcomers that will do anything to be introduced into the sizzling nightlife of the City of Angels. Portraying the Malibu beach life by day, and the L.A. club life by night, Sizzle Beach U.S.A. is a stunning insiders critique on the sex and drug lifestyle of the West Coast swinger scene in the early 80s.

"Hot sand! Hot bodies! Hot Costner!"