Clarence Thomas for President?

Justice Clarence Thomas once said "there's not much that entices" about his job on the Supreme Court. In yesterday's Washington Post, Kashmir Hill and David Lat of the legal blog Above the Law suggest Thomas try his hand at something different. How about the presidency?

The Republican Party is in disarray, with no clear message—as shown in last week's primaries—and with no obvious candidate to challenge President Obama in 2012. Thomas could be the GOP's new standard-bearer. He has enviable name recognition, both as a long-serving justice and as the author of the bestselling 2007 autobiography "My Grandfather's Son." And he has already survived the nasty political attacks that marked his 1991 confirmation hearings.

A Thomas candidacy would bring racial diversity and a moving personal story to the Republican ticket. Thomas was born into poverty in Pin Point, Ga. He didn't have indoor plumbing until he moved to Savannah to live with his grandparents at age 7….

Thomas is well suited for political office. On the nation's highest court, he has had to reflect and rule on the country's most divisive issues. He also has political experience predating the court. He worked as an assistant attorney general in Missouri and then for the Reagan administration in the Department of Education and as head of the EEOC.

And it's clear that Thomas prefers the open road over cloistered chambers. During the court's summer recesses, he enjoys driving around the country in his motor home, parking at Wal-Marts and seeing "a part of real America," as his wife put it in an interview with WNYC's "The Takeaway." Thomas says he loves it because it "gets you out among your fellow citizens." The justice could spend the next two years in his RV, simply adding a sign to its side: "Vote Clarence Thomas!"

Read the whole thing here.