Aviation, Heroism Trump Mere Understanding Of Economic Issues

If you're frustrated by the two major party choices for US President, maybe you'll want to write in James Marshall. E! Entertainment News reports a recent poll shows many Americans like him best.

If that name rings a bell, but you can't quite place it, President James Marshall was Harrison Ford's character in the 1997 movie, "Air Force One." AOL Moviephone has released a survey which shows that character is the favorite of 1.1 million survey respondents, asked recently to pick a favorite fictional movie President.

Moviefone Editor-in-Chief Scott Robson told Reuters, "It seems everybody is looking for a commander in chief who can come in and take command. Our readers voted with their hearts at a time when you have the economy going down the tubes, but in an ideal world it would be great to have a President who can kick some ass."

President Marshall saved his family from a group of terrorists who hijacked his plane in the movie. Overall, Ford drew 24 percent of the vote.

In second place was Morgan Freeman -- another real-life pilot, incidentally -- who played President Tom Beck in the 1998 sci-fi hit, "Deep Impact." Freeman was certainly presidential, but the film didn't have any memorable fight scenes, and Freeman probably lost a few kick-ass points when the White House was prepared for a comet strike by stockpiling cases of Ensure, a nutritional supplement originally marketed to seniors unable to maintain a healthy weight.

If Freeman ever really wants to run for President, he might want to be careful about gratuitous product placement. It obviously affects the vote!

There were two other sci-fi movie Presidents who made the list. Reuters reports Bill Pullman's President Thomas Whitmore was chosen by Moviephone voters as the bravest, for jumping into a fighter jet and leading an air raid against alien invaders in 1996's "Independence Day." Overall, he came in fourth.

Jack Nicholson, who played President James Dale in the 1996 Tim Burton dark comedy, "Mars Attacks," placed ninth.

Dale wasn't a particularly appealing US President... but wouldn't it be great to see Jack Nicholson reprise his famous line from "A Few Good Men" in a pre-election debate?

"You can't handle the truth!"

FMI: www.moviefone.com