Should Clarence Thomas Run for President in 2012?

In his speaking tours around the country, Clarence Thomas has a lot to say — sometimes critical things to say, about his fellow justices’ approach to oral argument and the lack of alma mater diversity among the Court’s clerks, for example.

But when Thomas is back at One First Street, sitting on the bench, he gets quiet. Very quiet. He hasn’t spoken a word during oral argument in over four years. He’s said before that it’s because he doesn’t see the point in badgering the attorneys arguing before the High Court. But we think there may be another reason: he hates his job. He’s suggested it himself.

In the Washington Post, we set forth a proposal for him: step down. And seek the Republican presidential nomination for 2012.

A bit about our reasoning, and a reader poll, after the jump.

He’s got name recognition. While nearly two-thirds of Americans cannot name a member of the Court, when they can pull a name out of the ether, Justice Thomas is the one they’re more likely to think of. And his wife is already the Tea Party Queen, after all.

In the Outlook section of the Washington Post, Kash and Lat make the full case for CT leaving SCOTUS to run for POTUS in 2012. Elie is on board too: “Sure. I’ll take four more years of Obama.”

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Justice Clarence Thomas seems bored. Why doesn’t he run for president in 2012?
[Washington Post]

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