Fictional Presidential Campaigns: Top Ten Greatest Fictional Candidates for Prez
FAKE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS:
Top Ten Fictional Candidates
HOW MANY Do Readers Remember?
A list of the Top Ten Greatest Fictional Presidential Candidates was compiled by Darren Garnick–who is, most certainly, not fictional.
Our favorite, Pat Paulsen–who is still running from the grave–is mentioned by Garnick, but didn’t make his list.
Bummer.
One of the top story lines of the 2008 campaign has been a possible surge of fake voters. But as we concern ourselves with voter fraud, let us not forget our country’s long history of fake presidential candidates.
The San Diego-based Museum of Hoaxes just named its top 20 satirical political candidates of all time, noting that comedians Will Rogers (1928), Gracie Allen (1940), and Pat Paulsen (1968) paved the way for this year’s ill-fated bid by Stephen Colbert—and perhaps even Al Franken’s serious bid for one of Minnesota’s seats in the U.S. Senate.
We’ve included images of a few of our personal favorites from Garnick’s list.
Before Mike “Huck” Huckabee threw his hat into the ring, there was another “Huck”: Huckleberry Hound, the running mate of Yogi Bear–the original “spread the picnic basket wealth around” candidate.
Garnick lists the following ten fictional presidential candidates:
- Snoopy/The Peanuts Gang
- Yogi Bear
- Archie Bunker
- Fonzie
- Alfred E. Neuman
- Fred Flintstone
- Ken Griffey, Jr.
- Mr. Clean
- Barbie
- Captain Morgan
Barack Obama had the “cool” vote to himself this year. 32 years ago, however, he would have had to battle the Fonz for the ballots of cool voters.
Alfred E. Neuman never went after the cool vote.
Would AEN have been cool under fire–or just oblivious?
Before Fred Thompson’s “Run Fred Run”, there was another Fred’s “Fred 4 Prez”–Fred Flintstone.
Fred’s 1996 campaign was only slightly less successful than Fred’s aborted 2008 Republican primary run. At least he didn’t have to compete with the Yogi Bear-Huckleberry Hound ticket for the cartoon vote.
Which 2008 campaign figure does the above picture call to mind?
Eight years before Joe the Plumber, there was another bald guy who wanted to clean things up: Mr. Clean.
The Capt. Morgan Part Platform: Party!
From History’s Greatest Fictional Presidential Candidates:
Meet the anti-Barbie candidate. Mattel’s earnest ambition is to change the way girls dream about their lives. Diageo’s corporate mascot wants those girls to get a little older and into fishnet stockings.
Captain Morgan strutted around this year’s Democratic and Republican conventions pledging to create five-day weekends and “put the party back into party politics.” While the women are wearing “Drink Responsibly” sashes, this swashbuckler is fooling no one. The Captain Morgan campaign works precisely because it’s the opposite of the standard spokescharacter run for office.
At this point, nobody’s surprised when a cartoon dog or a plastic doll takes a crack at the presidency.
There’s still something novel, though, about a candidate whose platform is “drink, drink, drink.” (No Ted Kennedy jokes, please.)
Were there any that characters that Darren Garnick left out of his list of Top Fictional Presidential Candidates? Let us know.
We’re still supporting Pat Paulsen.
by Mondo
hat tip: Darren Garnick
images/source: slate
I am the proud possessor of a campaign button for “Kirk / Spock ’88: Leadership for the Future.”
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