Monday, January 22, 2007

George Ballard for President?

You've heard that Hillary Clinton has announced, Bill Richardson has announced, Barack Obama is exploring the possibility. But have you heard of George Ballard? I ran across him recently; he was working the public location I happened to be. He says he is running for president, as a Democrat. He ran in 2004, too. Not familiar with him? He didn't do so well last time around, even in his home state of New Jersey. So far he doesn't have a website, and he doesn't google well so it is hard finding out anything about him. We had a lively discussion about a number of things; his speciality seems to be economics. He thinks the country is ready for an African American president but that it will be him and not Obama. I think Obama might be a little ahead of him in fundraising, but if Ballard wants to tilt at windmills, I say more power to him.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also ran into George on a NJ Transit train; I pretty much had the same experience - he's a very nice guy and I enjoyed talking to him. I suggested that if he were unsuccessful in his presidential campaign, he should consider running for governor of NJ where I believe he could accomplish a lot -but I warned him to always use a seat belt when speeding.

Anonymous said...

My roommates and i just ran into him at a Dunkin Donuts in the New Brunswick Train Station. He seemed very excited to reach out to students, but we weren't sure whether or not to take him seriously. What else do you know about him?

AboveAvgJane said...

Not much more than it posted here. When I talked to him he was looking for someone to run a website for his campaign, although with the Obama / MySpace situation still fresh in memory it would be a good idea to have a written contract on who does what for how much....

Anonymous said...

i just ran into this guy 10 minutes ago in the subway station in philadelphia. he said that he was supposed to be announced for president but they announced Obama instead. He also said he figured out how to fix the country over the internet. who is this guy?

AboveAvgJane said...

I've only had the one encounter with him so your guess is as good as mine. He does seem to spend a lot of time in train stations.

Unknown said...

I just met him in a Wendy's in Philadelphia. I thought that he was just joking and had presidential props he bought from the constitution center, but apparently that is not so. Huh.

Anonymous said...

I met Ballard In Philadelphia waiting for the night owl Septa bus route C. He didn't appear drun and he made a lot of sense. He also gave me a post card with his PO Box And #. George Ballard 08,PO Box # 200181, Newark NJ 07102-0304. 215-247-5464

Anonymous said...

I ran into him on South Street in Philly three days ago. I was sitting outside the police station on a bench with my boyfriend and a friend and he walked up to us and asked us if we wanted our picture taken. I didn't have any cash on me so he took a polaroid and gave it to us for free. Then he started talking about how he knows the way to get the country out of debt and gave us an equation on how it would work. He really knew what he was talking about, so it was interesting. Made sure that we would remember his name and told us to look him up when we got home. So we did. Super nice guy. I would vote for him.

Anonymous said...

I just met this guy on an NJ Transit train from Trenton to New York. He said he was going there to set up a press conference so he could tell the government how to turn the deficit into a surplus. He called himself one of the most famous economists today. I'm confused...:)

AboveAvgJane said...

I'm not entirely sure that Mr. Ballard shares the same reality that most of us do. Then again, I only met him once. Please do take care when talking with strangers on trains or benches. Not that I think there is anything malicious about Mr. Ballard -- he seemed perfectly fine the one time I talked with him, but, generally, some caution with people who have grandious ideas might be advised. Then again, I could be wrong.