Letter to the Editor (Election Day Edition)

In the off-season, I think I'm going to start doing a little something called "Letter to the Editor." If it sounds simple, well, that's because it really is. Simply send your questions about F1 (or anything, really; I know about a lot of stuff, haha!) to scrutineering@gmail.com, and I will post the responses here weekly.

In the spirit of Election Day, we're going to have an election-themed question, because surprisingly there is one of those on hand.

Well, maybe not too surprisingly: It's from my younger brother.

Grant writes,

Hypothetically, if Ferdinand Alfonzo [sic; lol!] could run for president, and it was either him or McCain, who would you vote for?

This was followed by a postscript which reads,

P.S. I'm from Britain
Worcester

Hypothetically, if I could vote for Fernando Alonso, yes, I probably would. Never mind that Alonso is not an American citizen, nor is he 35, has no idea whatsoever about how the United States Government works, and whose foreign policy experience is, well, being the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. Alonso would not be qualified to be the next president of the United States. But I would still vote for him because he's pretty darn cool. I don't plan on voting for McCain anyways, but it'd be like,

"Hey, John McCain, can you drive an F1 car? Ha, I thought not! That's why I'm voting for Fernando Alonso!"

Alonso would have to have a very good running mate, though. I've always imagined Mark Webber would be a good political figure. He's well-liked, well-spoken, and conscientious, and he looks a bit Kennedy-ish. However, he does tend to make that weird sad face all the time. Which is why Felipe Massa would be my other pick. Actually, Massa and Alonso are getting on rather well these days. And Massa, popular before, has now been virtually beatified (as he should be, because he's fantastic!) after this Sunday (although largely in Brazil, so I don't know how much that would influence the US election). He's also good at giving inspiring speeches (see my post from race day) and he has no truly embarassing vices (unless you count his race superstitions), arrests, or traffic infractions, a la Nelson Piquet or the Hamiltons.

So there you have it, Grant. Given the option to cast my ballot for Alonso and Massa, I certainly would. But since I can't, I'm off to vote for Barack Obama!