When someone lives in the public eye for decades, its easy to determine reasons to dislike her. Hillary Clinton has spent her past two campaigns weathering accusations that shes a flip-flopping phony for having the gall to mature her positions over decades in politics. Nobody else, when faced with retro footage, fares better. Except for Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah has spent decades upon decades on camera constructing a reputation as an unapologetic truth-teller. From her presents Springer-like early days to its Dr Phil-laden subsequently seasons, from touting weight loss to loving the skin shes in, she has been a consistently inconsistent presence in Americas living room. And yet, everyone adores her. She is real the American dreaming induced flesh. Born in rural, humble surroundings, she is now the only African American billionaire.

She seems immune to the laws that every other human being must follow. Marketings of your paperback plummeting? Not if Oprah picks yours for her book club. Black girls underrepresented on magazine coverings? Oprah is on her namesake magazine every month. Celebrity dirty laundry aired in the media? There have been rumors about her relationships with her partner and her best friend eternally, but her general refusal to address them builds the peanut gallery looking tacky. Nationwide recession looming? You get a car ! You get a auto! You get a auto!

Her television networks acronym is Own, for crying out loud. Donald Trump wouldnt have a fighting chance in a race against her.

If Oprah can unify a disparate American public unofficially, imagine what she could do with some hard power. Her appearance at a geopolitical summit would end with agreements and hugs. Everyone loves Oprah, so the world will respect America again, and all parties will feel heard and understood.

And then shell write a blockbuster memoir about it all, and starring in the subsequent movie, and well all drive in our free Oprah automobiles to the nearest theater to see it, even though we usually stay home and stream our cinemas. Anything for Oprah.

Kira Goldenberg

Michelle Obama

Lately, when all the incoherent screaming of the present race for the White House builds me want to hide until at the least the year 2020, I find it helps to quietly recur my new mantra until the queasiness dissipates. Try it with me: President Michelle Obama .

Its not just that the thought of standing with my daughters at the National Mall and watching a woman a woman whose ancestors were slaves taking the oath of chairperson builds me feel the way I feel when Im in a bar and Queens Dont Stop Me Now starts playing but theres that.

Its that Michelle Obama would be a terrific leader. Not that it should matter, but she is personable and charismatic terms youd be hard pressed to apply to the current harvest of nominees. Shes a Harvard-educated lawyer who has worked in the higher education and health sectors. Shes advocated for LGBT rights, for military households and for opportunities for girls and women. Shes smart. Shes tireless. Shes fearless.

And when I think of what my country needs right now, I cant help wondering if it isnt a commander in chief whos been name checked by Fifth Harmony.

Mary Elizabeth Williams

Sheryl Sandberg

The US presidential primaries are creaking along, sputtering to some sad, grubby conclusion. An IDK Not Trump Tho feeling has congealed upon everyone in the land of both parties who arent voting for him.

Sure, stuff is at stake. And yes, Trump must be beaten, but I have no confidence in or exuberance for Tracy Flick or Howard Dean 2: Electric Bernaloo. Did anyone actually tell, You know what we need to beat Trump? Oh yes. Some other clammy, power-mad jokers who like yelling stuff from pulpits . Thatll do it .

What we need is person with brains, heart and a big presence in todays real world, a place where broadcast Tv and town hall meetings are irrelevant.
That place is the internet, and that person is Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, leader of the Lean In movement and my human pole star.

Sandberg would integrate the US into the global community that already exists online, for she has transcended petty notions of countries. She has one billion constituents. Frankly, she could take Trump down with her charisma alone. Now, consider her vast information and communications resources. She would be literally unstoppable.

And Sandberg wont get all slimy and bulgy-eyed in pursuit of the One Ring of Potusness. She doesnt need the ring. She actually doesnt even want it, but shed be happy to carry it, because shes a leader like that.

If thats not enough to convince you, apparently a full one-third of young voters in America are now single girls. Game, defined, match: Sandberg.

Mary Valle

Sherrod Brown

In an election cycle dominated by two older, somewhat amusing but undeniably riled up white humen Im looking at you, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders I cant but help wonder why my favorite of that species didnt get in the race.

Ohio senator Sherrod Brown is a longtime progressive who has been talking about economic mobility for years. The highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate banking committee, Sherrod was an advocate for a bigger stimulus package, pushed for the reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act, has called for more social security benefits and has spoken often on the loss of domestic manufacturing employment opportunities in the wake of free trade.

Brown has also been willing to criticize Barack Obama for appointing Larry Summers as head of the Federal Reserve even after he helped deregulate financial markets while serving as Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration.

Moreover, Brown opposed both the Iraqi invasion and the Patriot Act, and he has been a strong proponent for LGBT and abortion rights. Brown is a level-headed, bona fide progressive who may not be calling for a political revolution a la Sanders but who, throughout his two decades in the House and Senate, has actively bolstered the progressive agenda in the US. He would get things done as chairperson. Its a pity this country will likley never get the chance to find that out.

Michael Arceneaux

Ben Higgins, aka The Bachelor

The current Bachelor should mount a presidential campaign.

This past week, the presents host( who, I bet you anything, is rude to waiters) essentially called Ben Higgins presidential, saying he belonged on the presents figurative Mount Rushmore.

Meanwhile, the primaries are seeming increasingly like a reality present, and the guy leading the Republican pack is a former reality starring himself. Higgins Ben, as I affectionately call him has already checked that box. But instead of making a name for himself by being mean, like our favorite orange candidate, Ben are formally been established as a nice person.( Thats probably because hes so profoundly bearing that he could never offend anyone, but that means hed be gaffe-free on the campaign trail ).

If he can succeed in a televised event that represents everything thats wrong with modern America, as The Bachelor has for the past 14 years, he should do really well in the election. And even if he cant, hes already shown that “hes having” grit, after losing on The Bachelorette and then returning as the starring of his own season.

My merely concern: the fact that he can pick a lifelong partner in a single television season suggests Ben guess very much in the short term. That probably means hes a Republican.

Matthew Cantor

Dolly Parton

Dolly Partons creation story reaches every plot phase of the American dreaming: growing up dirt-poor in Tennessee, catching a break with her songbird voice and reaching the country charts, and now, Dollywood. Shed fit into the presidential pantheon with that bootstraps narrative alone, but her qualifications for chairperson run way further.

Parton is a savvy businesswoman, helping revive the economy of east Tennessee. She is a philanthropist whose net worth is estimated to be over $500 m. Yet shes cultivated the rag part of her tale so carefully, youd never misstep her for a one-percenter. Shes a Christian, too, and has been married to the same human for 50 years. But beyond the traditional veneer is an absolute progressive.

Shes a working woman( 9-5 !) who never had children of her own. She supported Obama. Shes Miley Cyruss godmother! Shes a drag queen inspiration. She famously espoused lesbian wedding with the quip, they should suffer just like us heterosexuals. Even her cartoonishly feminine personal style is a knowing wink at the high expectations our society has of women. She has pretty much every possible voting bloc in the bag.

Once in office, image her potential as a world leader. Can you imagine the diplomatic skills required to navigate her career all these decades? Shes already circled the globe and met some of the most influential people in the world. Shes a storyteller who inspires empathy and encourages us to listen to our childlike hearts. And theres not one person, here or abroad, who could resist a fireside chat with Dolly. She will clutch them all to her wondrous bosom.

Plus, she can sing the national anthem at her own inauguration.

Valerie Lapinski

Read more: www.theguardian.com