"Lance-slide" victories may turn political

After rolling into his seventh Tour de France victory and subsequent retirement, Lance Armstrong now appears to be on the road towards a political career.

Though Armstrong has concretely said he will not run for the governor of Texas next year, his vagueness during an interview with MSNBC's Ann Curry leads one to believe a "lance-slide" campaign is in the future.

Regardless of Armstrong's actual ability and qualifications to hold an elected position, he is perpetuating a trend of actors, musicians and athletes who use their name to propel them into office.

We are living in a culture where candidates for office will do anything to get their names spread across headlines and television screens. Good or bad, press is the key to winning an election, because the vast majority of American voters do not vote based on the candidate's entire platform of issues, but because of name recognition, a single issue or along party lines.

It's disturbing to have reached the point where virtually anyone - be it Gary Coleman, a stripper or the terminator - can be elected into office based solely on how well they are known nationwide.

Have we reached the point where politics matter so little that we will elect anyone?

There is almost no doubt that if Armstrong ran, he would be elected, but not because of his political experience or issue campaigns. Instead he would be elected because Joe Schmo saw him on ESPN winning a lot of bicycle races.

Name recognition does not mean the person will do a good job in office - just ask the state of Louisiana when Britney Spears is elected senator.