Lisa Simpson for Governor

August 12, 2003 7:44 AM

Save Our State: Vote Terry Tate. (NYT/rr) Remember the Reebok Superbowl ad featuring the "office linebacker"? Well, that actor just entered the California governor's race. As the bumpersticker says, "Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?" Name your pick for next has-been to get on the ballot...I smell Kato.
posted by serafinapekkala (20 comments total)

I actually used to work at the Reebok law department, and I can only imagine who cooked up the research memo on exploiting election statutes to build your brand. i feel so...dirty. *scrubs at J.D. stain fruitlessly*
posted by serafinapekkala at 7:46 AM on August 12, 2003

According to the Washington Post, Gallagher (of watermelon-smashing fame) entered the race and was campaigning here in DC.

...

Yes. I know.
posted by tittergrrl at 7:50 AM on August 12, 2003

The public gets what it deserves/Not what it demands
-Agent Orange
posted by black8 at 8:06 AM on August 12, 2003

There are over 150 declared candidates in the CA governor's race. I, of course, am anxious for a thread to be started about every individual one of them.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 8:07 AM on August 12, 2003

Geez, XQUZYPHYR, don't be unreasonable, California is like, you know, really RICH and sunny and IT-y and shit, so of course everybody wants to hear about each and everyone of its governor candidates.
posted by signal at 8:13 AM on August 12, 2003

I wish I had thought of this.
posted by Witty at 8:22 AM on August 12, 2003

instead of pointing out that, as always, if you don't like a thread you don't have to read it or post to it...i will elaborate that i don't think Terry Tate is just another of the 150 random gubernatorial weirdos in the race, seeing as how he's a fictional character, and he and the Reebok ad agency filled out the election paperwork fraudulently, as a publicity stunt. this is hardly the first stunt candidate in history, but given the all-too-recent debacle of the 2000 election you might expect a little less shredding of the electoral contract. or not...discuss.
posted by serafinapekkala at 8:43 AM on August 12, 2003

Joke candiates happen everywhere. As a child, I remember reading about a gerbil named "Ken" who was elected head of the University of East Anglia's student union. He campaigned on a platform of "free beer and soft toilet paper." I can't find a link to it, but it made quite an impression on me.

Even here in Massachusetts, we had a carpetbagging dwarf try to be the democratic candidate for governor. There was also a Republican candidate who belongs to a cult that wears funny underwear. We elected him. California is only interesting because of the size of the pool.
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:16 AM on August 12, 2003

Uh... serafinapekkala? There are over a hundred candidates, including a watermelon-smashing comedian and a busty billboard girl. It's a little late to be surprised about "stunt" candidates, don't you think?
posted by stefanie at 9:18 AM on August 12, 2003

Google Version So you don't have to register with NYT.
posted by woil at 9:20 AM on August 12, 2003

Probability that you'll be able to find naked pictures of the next California governor online: nearing 100%.
posted by woil at 9:26 AM on August 12, 2003

Uh...yeah, i get it, and i never said i was suprised. but Gallagher, Angelyne, Gary Coleman, Larry Flynt, and the Ferret Rights guy are all real people, at least. it's noteworthy to me, as it would be if Triumph the Dog or Mr. Clean were on the ballot. The Tate website cracks me up...it's like the "Dan vs. Dave" campaign, or the Bud Bowl, played out in an actual election event. but i guess nobody cares but me, whatever.
posted by serafinapekkala at 9:57 AM on August 12, 2003

OT to Mayor C -- uh-oh, i worked for the dwarf...how was he carpetbagging, exactly?
posted by serafinapekkala at 9:59 AM on August 12, 2003

He wasn't born in New England. He didn't move here until he was, like, 18.
posted by Mayor Curley at 10:05 AM on August 12, 2003

Cicciolina for Govenor.
posted by nyxxxx at 11:17 AM on August 12, 2003

Does anyone remember when the Terry Tate commercial came out during the Super Bowl, and the name of the company he worked for was Felcher and Sons?

Felcher and Sons?!

I never heard anyone else mention this, but I pointed it out to my friends, who were all like "Wow, that's messed up," especially if I had to explain to them what felching was.

So, um... Support Felchers! Vote Tate!
posted by nath at 12:12 PM on August 12, 2003

Dudes...what about Keanu Reeves....his tagline could just be "Whoa!"
posted by dejah420 at 4:50 PM on August 12, 2003

247 candidates. I haven't done the exact math but if the recall passes then that means that someone could win with less than 0.5% of the vote in a straight run off :)

I was talking to my mother who lives in CA and when I pointed that out to her there was a loooonnnng silence from her end of the phone.

Personally I think Gray Davis will NOT be recalled, the whole thing is becoming too much of a joke and people are getting nervous so they will simply vote not to recall him.

The public gets what it deserves/Not what it demands
-Agent Orange
What the public in CA really wants is Ken Lay's head on a stick, but I don't think that's on the ballot.
posted by maggie at 1:40 AM on August 13, 2003

What the public in CA really wants is Ken Lay's head on a stick, but I don't think that's on the ballot.

And more's the pity...
posted by jokeefe at 8:46 AM on August 13, 2003

And more's the pity...

Indeed. By the by, we're down to about 171 official candidates out here, so it will now take a minimum of 0.3 percent of the vote for our next governor to claim the office.
posted by KF at 1:34 PM on August 13, 2003