Why Do Ranker Voters Think Ellen Degeneres Should Be President?

When Ellen Degeneres was voted #1 on our list of Celebrities who should run for President, she talked about it on her show.

What is it that makes a celebrity “president”-worthy? Because Ranker polls about each person along dozens of dimensions (e.g. cool vs. hot vs. good actor vs. trustworthy vs. ?), we can see how ratings on other lists relate to being voted as someone who should run for president. For example, below we can see that being seen as “cool” is only weakly related to being seen as presidential, with actors like Tom Hanks and Clint Eastwood scoring as relatively cool, but not relatively presidential.

Being good at your job seems to relate moderately to being seen as presidential. For example, below you can see how being seen as a good actor positively relates to being seen as presidential, with people like Meryl Streep, Leonardo Di Caprio, and Morgan Freeman scoring well on both fronts.

It also relates well to likability. Below you can see how the men who people want to have a beer with, like Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, and Di Caprio, also tend to be people they rate well as potential presidential candidates.

It also relates well to likability. Below you can see how the men who people want to have a beer with, like Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, and Di Caprio, also tend to be people they rate well as potential presidential candidates.

In all, looking at the relationship between Ranker lists yields comparable results to what political scientists find drives evaluations of presidential candidates.  People want a president who is competent, likable, and trustworthy.  And clearly Ellen fits all three buckets as she ranks as one of the best comedians of all-time, someone people would want to have a beer with, and as trustworthy.  Hence, Ranker users vote her as the #1 Celebrity Who Should Run for President.

Ravi Iyer