What candidates would the Daily Planet staff vote for to be President in 2020

[Flash Gordon]

From his upbringings, I actually see Clark as far more conservative than liberal. Yes, he is a journalist, but he is not the writer of op-Eds. He is less sensational in his journalistic endeavors as, say Hannity or Maddow. Lois, as a military kid, would more than likely focus on what may help the military. I don’t think she would be a Trump fan by no means, but I can’t see her backing Bernie or Warren, and I think she would see through Biden. It would be tough to pick who they would vote for. Clark might try to find the most conservative Democrat, but I think he would try to be as middle of the road as possible. I see him more libertarian than anything.

His upbringing?

[Superfly Frankenstein]

His upbringing?

Yeah, you know, small town farm family. I believe he is completely middle of the road. He is for people’s right without dishonoring the nation and its founding principles. He has nothing against LGBT peeps, is for legal immigration, the right to bear arms but not quite an open door policy to pack them around everywhere, the right of free speech as long as it tasteful, and he believes in upholding the Constitution and Truth, Justice and the American Way. Pretty much libertarian.

[EsotericFailures]

Superman does not believe in electoralism. Maybe he’d vote Democrat in a tight race but he’d never be an enthusiastic supporter of any candidate. The one he’d be most sympathetic to is Bernie Sanders, not because Sanders has great politics but because his campaign is based on grassroots activism, support for unionisation and radicalising ordinary people, all of which fit Superman’s championing of the oppressed.

Is this projection on my part? Yes. But the fact is Superman and I have the same opinions on this election because we’re both great people, not because I imagine characters I like 100% sharing my outlook.

[millernumber1]

Kind of feels like the protagonist characters would back whichever candidate the writer of the story supported. There's not enough consistency in the characters from writer to writer. Not like any of the current candidates really has distinguished himself or herself from the pack.

Well said.

[Nelliebly]

From his upbringings, I actually see Clark as far more conservative than liberal. Yes, he is a journalist, but he is not the writer of op-Eds. He is less sensational in his journalistic endeavors as, say Hannity or Maddow. Lois, as a military kid, would more than likely focus on what may help the military. I don’t think she would be a Trump fan by no means, but I can’t see her backing Bernie or Warren, and I think she would see through Biden. It would be tough to pick who they would vote for. Clark might try to find the most conservative Democrat, but I think he would try to be as middle of the road as possible. I see him more libertarian than anything.

Lois’s relationship with her father is spotty at best and outright poor at worst. On Smallville, where her character was explored in depth in relation to her father, she specifically talks about how she grew up surrounded by powerful men who abused power and that included her father even though she craved his love. She’s been openly critical of he tactics in more comics then I can count. I don’t care what one male writer said years ago ....there is literally nothing in her history that supports her being overly concerned with being pro-military. That’s a massive misread on her character. She has no loyalty to the military (has openly rejected that life on Supergirl and on Smallville) and, on the contrary, has often expressed disdain for the corruption in that life and the abuse of power wielded against the innocent.

Clark is not sensational but he is very aware and concerned about the poor and disenfranchised. He was openly a defender of “illegal” migrants on smallville and was quick to remind his mother he too was illegal as his adoption was a sham. He would not identify with any political party and definitely wouldn’t have a conservative slant when it comes to immigration or the treatment of the poor.

[Nelliebly]

Yeah, you know, small town farm family. I believe he is completely middle of the road. He is for people’s right without dishonoring the nation and its founding principles. He has nothing against LGBT peeps, is for legal immigration, the right to bear arms but not quite an open door policy to pack them around everywhere, the right of free speech as long as it tasteful, and he believes in upholding the Constitution and Truth, Justice and the American Way. Pretty much libertarian.

Clark Kent was an open defender of illegal immigrants seeking asylum on Smallville and reminded his mother that he too had been a refugee who came here illegally. It would be the utmost hypocrisy for him to be overly concerned with “legal immigration” given how he arrived here and nothing in the story suggests he would support keeping people out.

[Nelliebly]

I'd hope Lois' criteria for getting her vote wasn't determined first by the number of X chromosomes the candidate had. I can see it being a tie-breaker if we had two close possibilities, but not one of the main factors.

This would be all well and good if things were equal but they aren’t. Just as many black people felt passionate about supporting Barack Obama, many feminists feel passion regarding uplifting a female candidate. Lois is a feminist. Always has been. If you are white and male it’s rather easy to say you don’t think it should be a deciding factor because 200+ years of white male leaders has given you a voice. For the rest of us, life is a bit more complicated and sometimes we have to throw our weight behind the marginalized candidate or they will never get a shot. The Lois Lane I know and love would support a qualified female candidate over another old white guy.

Both Lois and Clark fall outside party lines though. They are ideal figures that, frankly, are both far more liberal in conception than a lot of comic book fans are ever going to be comfortable with and neither of them aligns perfectly with a political party or candidate because politics are corrupt and both Lois and Superman are above that kind of self serving corruption. It’s why they are heroes. We can’t assign them to a party imo.

[Ascended]

I'm going to say that, as far as the primaries go, Clark wouldn't vote for anyone because he's not registered as a Democrat, but as an Independent. I think Clark's probably quite moderate, with some libertarian sprinkled in, and opinions that fall on the right as well as the left. We know he's left-leaning on immigration considering the number of times he's helped and protected illegal aliens. But we also know that he's not anti-gun, and is very likely right-leaning on the 2nd (though I doubt he's as far afield as some of the crazy NRA nuts).

And I dont think he'd be at all enthused by any of the Left's hopefuls, and certainly not by trump, at this point in the game.

I've always pegged Lois as being a moderate/Independent as well, but I think she's a few shades more to the right than Clark is.

[Nelliebly]

I'm going to say that, as far as the primaries go, Clark wouldn't vote for anyone because he's not registered as a Democrat, but as an Independent. I think Clark's probably quite moderate, with some libertarian sprinkled in, and opinions that fall on the right as well as the left. We know he's left-leaning on immigration considering the number of times he's helped and protected illegal aliens. But we also know that he's not anti-gun, and is very likely right-leaning on the 2nd (though I doubt he's as far afield as some of the crazy NRA nuts).
And I dont think he'd be at all enthused by any of the Left's hopefuls, and certainly not by trump, at this point in the game.

I've always pegged Lois as being a moderate/Independent as well, but I think she's a few shades more to the right than Clark is.

Lois was portrayed as openly and aggressively liberal on “Lois and Clark, Smallville and on Supergirl. In Superman: the movie she was reflective of a lot of Margot Kidder’s feminism which, again, was aggressively feminist and rebellious. She grew up on military bases and has been rather consistently shown to find powerful men untrustworthy until Superman arrives. She openly rejects military life distinctly and in part because of corruption and viewed.

She’s been working in a man’s job for 80 years. Is married and now has a child but represents nearly nothing of the right leaning female POV. Has always been sex positive and openly sexual out of wedlock. Has been openly critical of industries that discriminate against women. Is almost certainly pro-choice. On Smallville, was assertive and openly against big corporations and the categorizing of immigrants and openly warred against Lex’s politics and the attempt to other for the duration of the series. Just because she knows how to use a gun from growing up around soldiers, doesn’t mean she’s pro-gun either. There is literally nothing about this woman that suggests she’s “right leaning.” On the contrary, she’s almost always distinctly embodied a kind of feminist identity that the conservative right hates. Working woman. Not a traditional woman. Open with sex. Fighting for equal pay. Fighting for her voice. Deeply untrusting of men in power.She was deeply influenced by the actresses who played her, all of whom are extremely left leaning including Hatcher, Durance and Tulloch with Kidder at the forefront.

I also see no evidence that Clark cares at all about the 2nd amendment. On what grounds would this man ever care about that? If anything, the bullet proof man who regularly sees the destruction caused by guns would be Anti-gun.

But we I said above...I think this is pointless because they don’t operate in our world. They operate in a world more aspirational than ours where good can truly triumph over evil. They don’t really fit in our flawed political systems imo.

[Flash Gordon]

Superman has always been a strong leftist. Not liberal, but leftist.

I don't know where these "likely a libertarian" and "some views that fall on the right" stances are coming from.

[The World]

I recall a political theme DC comic a while back where Lois asked Clark who he was going and he got really defensive over it and wouldn't tell her even though they were married. Adds to my theory that he knows he's a fictional character and doesn't want people to know who he's affiliated with.

[Ascended]

I also see no evidence that Clark cares at all about the 2nd amendment. On what grounds would this man ever care about that? If anything, the bullet proof man who regularly sees the destruction caused by guns would be Anti-gun.

We've seen Clark use guns in a number of instances (Return, Hunter/Prey, All-Star, etc). He also has a vast collection of them in the Fortress, and I'm somewhat sure I recall seeing a rifle or shotgun at the Kent household (though I could be remembering wrong), which would make sense given the farm's rural location. Lois has also been shown to have a number of weapons stashed around the house/apartment (in Identity Crisis she pulls a New Genesis mega rod out from under the sink or something) and I *think* she's been shown to have her concealed carry permit, which again, would make sense given the situations she gets into.

Since Clark didn't destroy the guns in the Fortress, no one mentioned his anti-gun views while he was actively using them, and he grew up around them, I doubt Clark is anti-gun. As I already said, he's probably not on the extreme NRA end of the spectrum but I have never seen Clark express any problem with firearms, merely the way some people use them. Batman is the guy who would abolish the 2nd if he could, but while Clark must have certain opinions on the regulation of firearms I've never seen anything on the page to make me think he's against them. Unless you have examples from the page it seems you're just projecting here. Which, I mean, we all are to one degree or another; there's not enough exploration of Clark's politics for us to have clear-cut answers. But as my literary analysis professor said, the evidence is whatever's on the page. If there are examples that support your view, I'm either forgetting them or never saw them. Certainly haven't read every single issue yknow?

Superman has always been a strong leftist. Not liberal, but leftist.

I don't know where these "likely a libertarian" and "some views that fall on the right" stances are coming from.

I think the libertarian thing largely comes in from Clark's strong belief in personal privacy, which isn't really a talking point for either the democrats or republicans anymore. Clark goes through a lot of trouble to ensure his identity remains a secret, especially from any government/military force, which strikes me as being very libertarian. And this has less to do with evidence on the page so I'm breaking a basic analysis rule here, but I've always had the impression he's for small government, which again, is more libertarian (formerly more republican) than anything else these days, it seems.

As for the right-leaning opinions, this example is a bit of a stretch because to my knowledge no comic has ever tackled the subject, but given how Clark feels about the sanctity of life and his no-kill rule (not that he keeps that rule all the time, but I digress) he's *probably* pro-life. I'd assume that he's not Alabama levels of crazy about it, of course.

Clark also seems to be a big supporter of first responders (including cops) and soldiers. He definitely takes issue with corruption within those institutions, but he's always friendly with the guys in uniform (autographing helmets during OW@W, for example). Clark's no supporter of people in authority abusing that power whether they're generals or businessmen or husbands, but he seems to have a lot of respect for the guys on the ground. Pa Kent (in several continuities) was a soldier as well, which helps provide some context for Clark's opinion, and while it's a one-off outlier Year One has him joining the Navy. But it *is* important to point out (again) that supporting cops and soldiers is not the same thing as supporting the decisions their bosses make. Clark's anti-corruption, but doesn't appear to be anti-cop or anti-military, unless he expressed those opinions in issues I didnt read. And the left is pushing further in that direction, so I think this is another case where Clark's ended up in the middle mostly because, as the parties keep pushing further to the extreme, the goal posts have shifted.

Golden Age Superman (and the New52) was very much a hardcore leftist, probably some flavor of Bernie-style democratic socialist. Outside of those eras, his politics have been far more muted, and while that's a corporate mandate to ensure Superman appeals to everyone, it's ended up skewing his politics into centrist middle ground.

I myself would rather see the guy go all-in on his classic politics and start throwing his weight around the political arena. But what I want to see isn't what's on the page.

[misslane]

As someone who identifies as liberal/progressive, I do not consider myself anti-gun nor am I opposed to the 2nd Amendment. In fact, I believe my position on guns is very much informed by the 2nd Amendment's stipulation for a "well-regulated" militia. I do not want to take away anyone's guns. I want guns to be well-regulated in order to ensure, as best as possible, that only those who are qualified and responsible have access to them and that no one has access to military grade guns like the ones commonly used in mass shootings. I have no reason to believe Clark and I wouldn't be on the same page, so I don't think his views on guns would place him anywhere near the center or right of the political spectrum.

[Doctor Know]

Clark - Tulsi Gabbard

Lois - Tulsi Gabbard

Jimmy (is he old enough to vote?) - Beto O'Rouke

Perry - Joe Biden

Cat Grant - Kirsten Gillibrand

Steven Lombard - Donald Trump

Ron Troupe - Corey Booker

Morgan Edge - Donald Trump

[Flash Gordon]

As someone who identifies as liberal/progressive, I do not consider myself anti-gun nor am I opposed to the 2nd Amendment. In fact, I believe my position on guns is very much informed by the 2nd Amendment's stipulation for a "well-regulated" militia. I do not want to take away anyone's guns. I want guns to be well-regulated in order to ensure, as best as possible, that only those who are qualified and responsible have access to them and that no one has access to military grade guns like the ones commonly used in mass shootings. I have no reason to believe Clark and I wouldn't be on the same page, so I don't think his views on guns would place him anywhere near the center or right of the political spectrum.

Very well said, misslane.

Being pro-2nd Amendment doesnt make you a right winger or a libertarian. A lot of progressives hold those opinions.