6 Reasons Why Mellie Would Make a Great President on Scandal

When the election rolls around, make sure to vote Mellie Grant. Scandal's incumbent First Lady has big White House dreams and hit deploy on her grand plan last week when she announced her plan to run for senator of Virginia. The Oval Office is still a long way away for Mellie (Bellamy Young), but if and when she wins, she'd be a good POTUS -- or at the very least, a way better one than Fitz (Tony Goldwyn). Here's why.

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1. She's smart: Mellie's bombastic, hyperbolic outbursts often overshadow that. But time and time again, we hear about how highly educated she is and how she put her own political aspirations on hold for the sake of Fitz, and time and time again, she's proven how savvy she can be. You think it was a happy accident that Mellie pushed Fitz to tap the "completely un-electable" Susan Ross as his new VP and then decide to run for her vacant Virginia Senate seat? As she once told Fitz, "I used the copious amounts of free time I have to think, and I've been thinking."

2. She's a political animal: Mellie knows exactly when to pounce. The same cannot be said of her inert hubby. After Andrew (Jon Tenney) threatened to put the kibosh on her White House dreams if he couldn't be POTUS, Mellie ruthlessly enlisted Liz (Portia de Rossi) to shut down her former lover, giving us a Huck-induced "stroke." "The thing with Andrew just shows what she's capable of," Young told TVGuide.com. "She sees the next move on her chess board and embraces it."

3. She gets things done: There are not enough words in the English language to fully convey how passive and incompetent Fitz is as a president. When has he actually enacted policy or handled anything without someone else, namely Olivia (Kerry Washington), stepping in to guide the way and/or manipulate him? It was Mellie who easily coaxed him into going to war for Olivia. It was Mellie who sexed up Andrew to steal his phone to locate Olivia. It was Mellie who faked a miscarriage to engender sympathy from female voters for Fitz. If you want a POTUS with clarity and purpose, vote Mellie.

4. She compartmentalizes: Listen, being president is no easy gig. You've got a ton on your plate and a billion people coming at you from all directions. We don't envy Fitz and the everyday issues he has to deal with, but that's the thing: He has to deal with them. But when the going gets tough, he mopes and daydreams about Liv. He cannot get out of his own way for the country. Tough, resilient, Mellie has been through a lot (see: being raped, losing her son), but for better or worse, she's always pulled through and carried on -- for Fitz's sake. There's no reason to think she wouldn't put the people first.

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5. She actually wants it: The saddest part of the Defiance rigging is that all these intelligent, cunning people conspired to fix an election for someone who not only doesn't deserve the presidency, but who doesn't even want it. Fitz only got into the game as an FU to his dad. Sure, he puts on good face sometimes to lead with passion and conviction, but his overall dourness is both unsettling and infuriating. Let him and Liv make jam in Vermont and put someone in office who wants to serve. "The upsetting thing about being as educated as I am and as intelligent as I am is that being First Lady is profoundly boring," Mellie once told Fitz. "What did you call me? Ornamental? Non-functional? I am dying on the vine here. Give me a war to run or the CIA or something."

6. She'd be fascinating to watch: You'd be lying if you're not the slightest bit interested to see what a Mellie-led U.S. of A would look like. Because she's been (im)patiently, dutifully waiting in the wings for so long, the true Mellie has yet to take full flight. What's her platform? How will she kick ass and take names? What does she want to achieve? She might use this power for evil for all we know, but we still wanna watch. And besides, it's her turn.

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Scandal airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.

Watch a supercut of drunk Mellie: