What we need to do, I think, is to consider casting the role of President.

Yep, I'm advocating that we give in utterly and completely to the triumph of style over substance and groom a figurehead that people will like and vote for.

A man, of course. White, of course, but vaguely ethnic would be good. (We're trying to get ourselves back into the game, and need every advantage we can get.) Someone not too liberal, of course, and without any history of radical politics behind them. Someone who mostly plays parts that are lovable or likable, or at least radiates "I'm a good guy" even when playing a bad one.

Not Rob Reiner -- someone with hair and in good physical shape. Doesn't have to be an "A" list star, could be someone on the "B" list, as long as their Q rating is pretty high, and they've got solid name recognition across all demographics (see Reagan for what may perhaps be the ideal level of stardom). No one too old (under 65), but not too young either (over 45, which a President has to be anyway).

The name that jumps to mind is, of course, Martin Sheen, but I think his playing a President on TV would be a distinct liability (in a way that making movies with monkeys was for Reagan), too easily the butt of late-night comic jokes. Warren Beatty and Robert Redford are probably too identified with liberal causes, but they're in the right ballpark as well.

In 2008, we can't allow another persona gap with the Republicans.

A couple of days ago, this appeared in Variety:

Dems need charisma

Moore urges party to embrace H'wood for '08

By JILL GOLDSMITH, IAN MOHR

Michael Moore urged Democrats to hightail it to Hollywood, harness some star power and steer clear of "wonks" if they want to win the White House in 2008.

"When they run a rock star like Bill Clinton or a movie star like John Kennedy, they win. When they run the wonks, they lose. If I ever hear Evan Bayh ... ," Moore told a roomful of acolytes, including Faye Dunaway, Eli Wiesel, Nora Ephron, Tovah Feldshuh, James Toback, Jon Kilik and IFC Entertainment prexy Jonathan Sehring. He spoke at a lunch in Gotham after the New York Film Critics Circle named his Bush-bashing "Fahrenheit 9/11" best docu of the year.

"Who is our Arnold," he asked, and "when are we going to stop being embarrassed to ask this question?"

The Democrats, he said, must embrace Hollywood -- run to it. Dems, he griped, unlike Republicans, "don't know how to tell a story that has a beginning, a middle and an end. ... Republicans love Hollywood (and) they have the best scripts and the best sets" -- like President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch.

Moore insists America loves celebrities and actors and will vote for them whenever they have the chance -- it almost doesn't matter who (Arnold, Regan, Gopher on "Love Boat," Sony Bono, Fred Thompson) -- or, he joked, "how many naked pictures there are of them groping women."

Moore has suggested Oprah Winfrey as a candidate. He mentioned Caroline Kennedy. If not, he said, "I always ask the question, who wouldn't go for Tom Hanks? Everyone knows Tom Hanks won't set policy, just as Bush doesn't set policy.

"Don't listen to pundits saying Americans hate Hollywood. Like Hollywood opens a movie, we need to open a candidate next time around."

Given some of the opinions he's expressed, I'm not certain that having Michael Moore agree with you means much of anything, but on the other hand, Moore is an excellent propagandist who knows whereof he speaks when it comes to persuading people (even if he, like all of us on this side of the divide, lost the election). When he talks about what it takes to get to people, perhaps it's worthwhile giving some credence to what he says. (That it happens to be what I said is, of course, totally irrelevant.)

Round 2.5 The editors of Washington Monthly look at 13 unusual possible Democratic candidates, including such celebrities as Tom Hanks (everyone's favorite exemplar), Bill Cosby, Lance Armstrong and Tom Brokaw.