Rumors Swirl Around Possible Presidential Candidates

With both Student Body President Austin Shaw and Vice President Kim Nguyen graduating in the spring, the race for next year's top spot is going to be wide open. Rumors are swirling about who's going to run. And here they are:

Jupiter Gov. Ed Fulton – Ever since this guy won office for governor he's been mentioned as a possible contender for next year's vice-president's spot. In fact, some rumors stated the only reason he ran on the Diversity ticket was because they guaranteed him the V.P's spot next year. The rumor now, however, is that he may skip V.P. and try to go straight to the top. He's already widely popular on the Jupiter campus, especially within the honor's college, Jupiter's main voting bloc. But can someone from a partner campus actually win?

Boca Gov. Rakibur "Rocky" Joarder – Behind closed doors many current and former SG officials whisper that Joarder is one of the two "real" leaders of the Diversity party. They have even called him the puppet master. Whether or not that's true, one thing is for certain – never underestimate Rocky Joarder. At the beginning of the summer semester Joarder was nothing but a lowly Boca senator. But he moved up the ranks quickly.

Former Senate Speaker Todd Ericson appointed him senate pro tempore. Once the summer term was finished Ericson suspiciously resigned from his position as senate speaker to become presidential chief of staff. Was Ericson a puppet all along? Did he run for senate speaker because Joarder at the time was ineligible? It sure seems that way. Now because Kirk Murray resigned and Nguyen had to move up to become vice president, Joarder is in the perfect position to run for president. As governor he's already third in line. Expect administrators to squirm in their seats if he actually took office. It’s no secret that there is no love lost between administrators and Joarder. However, some have said that he’s a horrible campaigner and unless he recruits some die-hard supporters he doesn’t have a chance.

Tony Teixeira – Ever since Teixeira won the election and then lost it after the election was disputed, overruled and a new one was held, he's never ruled out running again. He has said the only way he would consider it is if SG cleaned up their act. Well SG is on their way to accomplishing that and so it seems likely that Teixeira will run for president. One rumor even stated a Teixeira/Fulton ticket, but that however, seems just a little too far fetched. During Teixeira’s third campaign he gave up in the middle. If Teixeira were to run he’d only win by sticking to his guns and keeping up his momentum.

Senate Pro Tempore Chris Mack – He’s already told the UP “I do have aspirations for the presidency,” but believes he’s better suited for the Senate. So if this guy doesn’t aim for the top he will be aiming for the top of senate, as senate speaker next year or if the new constitution passes – speaker of the House. Expect him to run if he doesn’t feel any of the candidates are worthy of the top position. Mack’s biggest asset is also his biggest weakness – his mouth. If he keeps it shut long enough who knows, he may have a chance.