When a bunch of journalists get together and maybe have a cocktail or two, the question will at some point come up.
What person living or dead would you love to interview?
It's an inevitable query.
Last week, David Letterman got to fulfill a lot of journalists dreams when President Barack Obama graced The Late Show stage.
They had some great quips back and forth (including but not limited to jokes about the empty chair next to him), and the thing that was striking was how cool Obama is. Regardless of who you would give your "x" too, it's hard to argue who would win in the coolness category between Obama and Romney.
In May of this year, Karl Rove and the super PAC American Crossroads tried to argue in a campaign that Obama was "too cool" to run for president.
The attack ad shows the President "slow jamming" to the news on Jimmy Fallon's late-night show, singing an Al Green song and chugging a beer.
If ever given the opportunity to chat with the President, I'd like to ask him if I could call him Barack.
Just once.
So I could say that I did.
He seems like he would be OK with it.
After that it would be Mr. President all the way.
Canada is in desperate need of a cool leader. Of course, knowing what you are doing when it comes to running the country trumps how important cool is, but still, the point remains.
We haven't had a cool president since Pierre Trudeau with his classic red rose. Harper might be good at doing some things, but it's tough to pull off cool with that
haircut.
Of course being cool comes at a price, as any cool person will tell you.
For Obama, the criticism is in that he has become the celebrity president because of his endless Hollywood endorsements (not from Clint Eastwood though - uncool Clint, uncool.) He is also referred to as a tattoo president. Although tattoos can be cool - in this sense it's not.
The term refers to a tattoo that you get when you are young and then as you get older, you regret the decision (think a tramp-stamp of the presidential seal).
Meaning Obama's presidency seemed like a good idea on paper, but maybe not so much in actuality.
That remains to be seen.
In recent years, the importance of a president's likeability seems to have hit an all-time
high.
Perhaps it's because of the push to get the younger vote that is causing the question to be posed as to which candidate people would rather have a beer with.
Most past presidents have given some insight into their lives. George W. Bush described his fitness routine, his father let it be known that he didn't like broccoli, Reagan loved jellybeans and Clinton played the sax.
At the end of the day, being cool isn't a currency. It can't pay down the deficit or play
peacemaker to fighting countries.
And it's doubtful people were debating whether FDR shot hoops when he wasn't busy
crafting the New Deal.
But this election in five weeks will be the latest example of how the political climate has changed. Whether Obama becomes a two-term president, or whether Romney and Ryan get the ticket, it can't be argued that Obama is the coolest ticket the White House has seen in quite some time.
Of course, pundits are trying to spin the cool into a hot button-issue. Although it's difficult for people to believe that a former Mormon bishop, who looks and talks like a supporting character from Footloose, is cool. Especially when you have the presidential equivalent of the Fonz to compare him against.
Americans like a president who has a personality, can both take and deliver a joke - it's what makes a modern president.
But Obama has to be careful, because no one likes someone who is too cool for school.
-- Associate news editor Ashley MacDonald
