Pigasus was a 145lb domestic pig who was the nominee of the "Yippies"(Youth International Party) during the 68' election owned by Yippie Phil Ochs.The pig's name was a double entendre on Pegasus and the famous saying "when pigs fly" to further mock the election. The campaign pledge of the Yippies was "They nominate a president and he eats the people. We nominate a president and the people eat him". The invention of Pigasus was the "brainchild" of activists Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin.
Pigasus's candidacy was announced during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Accompanied by Yippies with posters and being escorted in a station wagon, Pigasus the Immortal took his nomination rally through the streets of Chicago. The Yippies even demanded he be considered a legitimate candidate as Jerry Rubin said "We want to give you a chance to talk to our candidate and to restate our demand the Pigasus be given Secret Service protection and be brought to the White House for his foreign policy briefing." However Pigasus's campaign trail was short lived as during the process of Jerry Rubin reading the "acceptance speech" for pegasus's official nomination, Pigasus as well as Rubin, Ochs and a few other Yippies were arrested! Arrested for disorderly conduct, the yippies were charged but eventually posted bail of $25, and while the yippies were released, the whereabouts of Pigasus remain unknown.
Eight years later the Yippies nominated another candidate for president Nobody.
Fun fact: "Many years later, The New York Times obituaries for Dennis Dalrymple, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin all highlighted the nomination of Pigasus for President during the Democratic Convention of 1968 as an extraordinary moment in political theater." (Wiki)
Bib:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigasus_(politics)
http://www.porkopolis.org/2008/pigasus/
Pigasus was not the last joke presidential nominee either. Vermin Love Supreme is a real person who has campaigned for president in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016. In 2011, he was at the Lesser-Known Democratic Candidates Presidential Forum, where he glitter-bombed a fellow candidate. In 2012, he won 833 votes in the New Hampshire Democratic Primary (compared to Obama's 49,080 votes). And, in 2016, he changed his political affiliation to the Libertarian Party, claiming himself to be "Sage and Oracle for Libertarians throughout America, and possibly Belize as well." In the past, Supreme "has campaigned on a platform of zombie apocalypse awareness and time travel research, and promised a free pony for every American." I am sure he will be running again in 2020, so maybe you should consider casting your vote for Vermin Supreme when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermin_Supreme
I had no idea that this happened! The stories of Pigasus and Vermin Love Supreme attempting to run for president and actually gaining popularity and followings in the process are fascinating. These joke presidential nominees can easily be seen as mockeries of our country's political process. Yet, the fact that we know who they are represents how diverse the beliefs of Americans truly are and the measures to which people in the country are willing to go to do something unexpected and completely unprecedented. I found the article below interesting as well, as it lists some other people who have tried to run for president. It is not only celebrities and performers who have attempted to create presidential campaigns but also convicted felons- for example, James Traficant, who was expelled from the House of Representatives after taking bribes, filing false tax returns, and forcing coworkers to do chores on his houseboat. Another person that surprised me was a punk singer named Jello Biafra who, in 2000, attempted to get the Green Party nomination and chose a death row inmate as his running mate.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thrillist.com/culture/craziest-people-who-ve-run-for-president-weirdest-presidential-candidates
What an interesting post! I found the quote "They nominate a president and he eats the people. We nominate a president and the people eat him" especially fascinating because the sentiment behind it is still so relevant today. Another joke candidate (in addition to Pigasus and Vermin Love Supreme) was Deez Nuts, who ran very recently for president in 2016. However, he didn't even exist and was instead the brainchild of a 15-year-old from Iowa, Brady Olson, who filed the candidate for election. The candidate actually polled at 9 percent in North Carolina against Trump and Hillary despite being nonexistent, and his followers have named themselves "Deez Nutses" in support.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thedailybeast.com/presidential-sensation-deez-nuts-is-a-15-year-old-iowa-farm-boy