Celebrity Candidates in Elections

I think we're supposed to tut at this, although I can't quite figure out why:

Hip hop star Wyclef Jean has formally registered to stand for president of his native Haiti as it rebuilds after the devastating January earthquake.

Surely the point of democracy is that anyone can run for office, or have I missed the point?

Mr Jean is hugely popular in Haiti where half of the population is under 21.

He told Time magazine in an interview that his secret weapon in the election campaign would be that Haiti's "enormous youth population doesn't believe in politicians any more".

So not only is Wyclef Jean running for President, he might also win. Again, this is the nature of democracy. Popular people win elections.

There seems to be a feeling in many cultures, including our own, that celebrities shouldn't involve themselves in politics. And I have to confess that I'm sick to fucking death of hearing ill-informed nonsense from the likes of Bono and Bob Geldof. But that is democracy for you; everyone can participate, even if they're going to talk shite. And there is nothing to stop those who appear, at least on the surface, to be utterly unqualified for office from running for that office.

Furthermore, there is an increasing tendency for democracies to expect only the professional political class to run for office. The likes of Bono, Geldof and Jean aren't as suitable as candidates as someone who has never done anything other than politics. Of course, this isn't true. The most famous example of celebrity turned political leader is Ronald Reagan, the star of Bedtime for Bonzo. And he managed to be a far better President than, say, Bill Clinton, who was practically vying for office as soon as he emerged from the womb.

We're missing the point - perhaps the most fundamental point - of democracy. Anyone can run for office - anyone. That doesn't mean they automatically win. There's a little matter of an election that stands in their way. And we should start treating elections in democracies as a something other than a popularity contest that we passively absorb. Elections should be grueling contests for the candidates where we, the voters, interrogate all candidates - celebrities, professional politicians, unknown non-entities - about their policies, their personalities, and their general suitability for the office. There should be no complaint about who chooses to run for office. We just need to make sure that we, as voters, make sure that the best candidate, regardless of background, wins.

Good luck to Wyclef Jean as he runs for President. I hope he makes a strong case for why he should be president and if he doesn't, I hope that he is rejected at the polls.