Who will be next year's Bristol?

'Dancing With the Stars': Who will be next year's Bristol?
By Melissa Bell

Bristol Palin packed a punch on "Dancing with the Stars."When "Dancing With the Stars" came out, I remember clearly thinking: This show is going to be such an utter flop. That, my friends, is why I am not a successful television producer.

The show has skyrocketed to fame with a roster of shimmying, shaking and sweating stars cutting a rug for our weekly viewing pleasure. But what was once a show dedicated to '70s stars looking for a little love in the new century (Remember David Hasselhoff was supposed to be this year's big ratings get), is now a political statement of national importance. Thanks to Bristol Palin, with her accompanying aroma of political intrigue, the show's incited people into possible voter fraud, and actual violence against television sets.

The Post's resident "DWTS" dancing expert extraordinaire, Lisa de Moraes, wrote on Monday that the Bristol effect has been a risky choice for the formerly "cheestastic" dancing show. Conrad Green, the executive producer, even worried about angering his audience, although he had "no idea" she would be such a polarizing figure:

"It's been illuminating," Green said. "A lot of this is timing -- it's a particularly bad time in American politics. I love that people are being passionate but sad so many people are angry. ... I don't want to anger our audience. ... That was never my intention" in casting Bristol on the show, he added, exuding sadness.

I am guessing the phenomenal ratings somewhat mitigated his sorrow, though. The show hit record numbers with 24 million viewers Monday.

I'd be willing to guess that means a future "DWTS" with at least one polarizing political figure in its dancing fold. Here's our list of 10 possible politicians (or their relatives) I would love to see doing the cha-cha. Which one should be next year's Bristol?