Satirical Candidacies for President

[Bpelta]

I want to know if I’m missing the names of anybody who has run a major satirical campaign for president. I know it depends on how you define “major:” I’m just looking for people who ran campaigns which got some (even if not much) national attention.

I know about Gracie Allen (1940), Irwin Corey (1960), Pat Paulsen (1968, 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996), Stephen Colbert (2008, 2012 in South Carolina), and Vermin Supreme (2004 in DC, 2008 in New Hampshire, and 2012).

[racer72]

Joe Walsh, 1980.

[Sailboat]

Although he did not run, and was not trying to be president, and may not have been intending satire, all the candidacies listed so far owe a debt of sorts to the grandaddy of them all: Emperor Norton I (1859).

[Exapno_Mapcase]

Jimmy Durante 1952.

W. C. Fields 1940. (link goes to 1972 reprint)

The Yippie Party - Abbie Hoffman, et al. - ran a pig for president in 1968.

Will Rogers did it first, in 1928 - Anti-Bunk Party:

Presidential campaign, 1928

Rogers thought all campaigning was bunk. To prove the point he mounted a mock campaign in 1928 for the presidency. His only vehicle was the pages of Life, a weekly humor magazine. Rogers ran as the “bunkless candidate” of the Anti-Bunk Party. His only campaign promise was that, if elected, he would resign. Every week, from Memorial Day through Election Day, Rogers caricatured the farcical humors of grave campaign politics. On election day he declared victory and resigned.

Asked what issues would motivate voters? Prohibition: "What's on your hip is bound to be on your mind" (July 26).

Asked if there should be presidential debates? Yes: "Joint debate--in any joint you name" (August 9).

How about appeals to the common man? Easy: "You can't make any commoner appeal than I can" (August 16).

What does the farmer need? Obvious: "He needs a punch in the jaw if he believes that either of the parties cares a damn about him after the election" (August 23).

Can voters be fooled? Darn tootin': "Of all the bunk handed out during a campaign the biggest one of all is to try and compliment the knowledge of the voter" (September 21).

What about a candidate's image? Ballyhoo: "I hope there is some sane people who will appreciate dignity and not showmanship in their choice for the presidency" (October 5).

What of ugly campaign rumors? Don't worry: "The things they whisper aren't as bad as what they say out loud" (October 12).[22]

Some links for those already mentioned.

Irwin Corey, BTW, ran on Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Party ticket and put out a very rare record titled Win With Irwin. From his site:

When Corey was appearing at our Playboy Club in Chicago, it dawned on us that it might be a wild idea to run him for President. What we were doing, in effect, was channeling the famed Corey bombast from its main purpose of being “The World’s Foremost Aurhority” onto a very logical sidetrack by suggesting that Corey would make an excellent “World’s Foremost Executive.” We carried the campaign to its logical extreme, including campaign buttons (“Irwin will run for any party and he’ll bring his own bottle”) and posters (“Corey is the only candidate named Irwin”) and we even hired a sound truck to prowl the North Side of Chicago blaring martial music and booming out the good message tp the voting public (“Relief is just a ballot away–elect Corey–then go on relief”).

Gracie Allen - Surprise Party.

Pat Paulsen.

[drewtwo99]

I really want to say [REDACTED] but I won’t, because that would be a political jab inappropriate for this forum.

[bup]

Larry Harmon (Bozo) claimed he was running a few times, including 1964, but I doubt he ever did any paperwork. It got a bit of ‘national attention’ in the form of humorous news.

[Colibri]

Zacherley (John Zacherle), the “Cool Ghoul” on WPIX in New York, ran a presidential campaign in 1960. I’m not sure how much attention it got outside the NY Metro Area.

[Trinopus]

Does Pogo Possum count?

[yabob]

@Trinopus

Does Pogo Possum count?

The list’s going to get a lot longer if we allow comic strip characters. Nevertheless:

I Go Pogo

[Toucanna]

@yabob

The list’s going to get a lot longer if we allow comic strip characters…

MAD Magazine’s mascot and poster boy, Alfred E. Neuman.

“In late 1956, Neuman’s identity became fixed, when he appeared on the cover of Mad #30 as a supposed write-in candidate for the Presidency.”
Source: Alfred E. Neuman - Wikipedia

“…MAD magazine editor John Ficarra told POLITICO…the magazine has concocted a fictitious run almost every four years since 1956. They don’t ever bother finding out how many actual write-in votes Neuman got, but he says ‘People will sometimes send in pictures of them holding up Alfred posters as they got into the voting booth.’”
Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83400.html

[RealityChuck]

Howard the Duck, candidate for the All Night Party.

[installLSC]

The multiple presidential runs of Harold Stassen somewhere along the line went from serious to satirical.
And if we’re still including cartoon characters, the comic strip “Bloom County” had the dead Bill the Cat run for president in 1984.

[TriPolar]

@installLSC

The multiple presidential runs of Harold Stassen somewhere along the line went from serious to satirical.
And if we’re still including cartoon characters, the comic strip “Bloom County” had the dead Bill the Cat run for president in 1984.

I wrote in Harold Stassen in several elections. It was still a running joke when I was young, but I rarely encounter anyone that understands it any more.

[Colibri]

@installLSC

The multiple presidential runs of Harold Stassen somewhere along the line went from serious to satirical.

Stassen’s candidacy may have become a running joke to others, but it wasn’t satirical on his part. I believe he was always quite serious about it (which is why he became a joke).

[beowulff]

Micky Mouse always does well as a write-in candidate, but I’m not sure he has an official campaign. I’ll ask his handlers.

[kopek]

I seem to recall something about helping a pig run for office – two actually. One was Pigasus and the other belonged to Wavy Gravy if memory serves me right. Some things from back then are a little fuzzy around the edges of my brain.

[Little_Nemo]

@yabob

The list’s going to get a lot longer if we allow comic strip characters.

There was a “Snoopy for President” campaign in 1968.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@Exapno_Mapcase

The Yippie Party - Abbie Hoffman, et al. - ran a pig for president in 1968.

@kopek

I seem to recall something about helping a pig run for office – two actually. One was Pigasus and the other belonged to Wavy Gravy if memory serves me right. Some things from back then are a little fuzzy around the edges of my brain.

The fuzziness appears to have been permanent. I told you not to take the brown acid.

Pigasus had no connection to Wavy Gravy, BTW.

[bup]

The Onion’s AV club has a list of 13 satirical runs - at least a couple have not been mentioned here.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

Thanks for that link. I knew I had forgotten one. I have all the books I mentioned and I have Eddie Cantor’s, too. Your Next President (1932), actually written by the head writer on his radio show, David Freedman.