Kanye isn’t the first ‘candidate’ people have shaken their heads at
The night after Kanye West claimed at MTV's Video Music Awards that he's running for president in 2020, the "Ready for Kanye" committee — which, in theory, would allow the group to raise money for an effort to draft the rapper into the presidential race — was filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Whether it's serious or not, the committee was started by Eugene Craig III, a Maryland conservative activist. Craig on Twitter calls himself a grass-roots activist for liberty and a Maryland GOP local official.
But West isn't the first out of place "candidate" to announce a bid for the White House, or even to actually run for office.
President Ronald Reagan was the first to break the entertainer-to-politician barricade, serving as president of the United States through most of the 1980s. Actor and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger followed a similar path when he became the 38th Governor of California in 2003. Both candidates, at the time of announcement, were ridiculed by many for the political ambitions.
But compared to the "candidates" seen in recent elections, they're not even that strange.
Two of the lesser-known but still "popular" candidates in the race for 2016 are Limberbutt McCubbins and "Deez Nuts," a cat and a 15-year-old boy, respectively. While the candidates don't meet the federal requirements to become president, Deez Nuts actually gained some traction in the polls after being inspired with the cat's story — starting with how easy it is to register with the FEC.
On Monday, a dog named Lucy Lou who has served as "mayor" of Rabbit Hash, Ky., an unincorporated community, announced ambitions for higher office, as well as her "retirement from office."
In a few places across the U.S., political office has been "successfully" dominated by an actual animal, with cats and dogs being given "honorary" titles — but not in place of a human being. Many times the animal candidate is used as a way to raise funds for shelters in need.
Vermin Supreme became one of the most iconic "oddball" candidates in recent years, and he's still campaigning for the next election. His presidential ambitions were validated with almost 150 votes in the 2004 Washington, D.C., primary and 43 votes in the 2008 general election. He gained some traction in 2012, being listed as a candidate in multiple states and winning over 1,000 total votes nationwide.
For those who don't remember, Supreme is the one with the beard and the boot on his head who carries a large toothbrush promising the people of the United States "free ponies."
In 2012, Inmate No. 11593-051, or Keith Judd, who is an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Texas received 40 percent of the Democrat vote against Barack Obama in West Virginia's Presidential Primary.
Another non-human candidate is "Crawfish, a 2016 Presidential nominee," who started as a joke Facebook page "Can This Crawfish Get More Supporters Than Bobby Jindal?" Crawfish has been covered in multiple major news outlets after multiple Louisiana citizens proclaimed their support for anyone who wasn't Bobby Jindal.
"A more honorable crustacean you will never meet, nor a tastier one," Walter Marx wrote in an online comment.
While voters on each side may refer to candidates on the other as ridiculous as those mentioned above, the serious candidates for 2016 have boiled down to five Democrats with Hillary Clinton in the lead and V.P. Joe Biden exploring a run, while Donald Trump leads the GOP polls against 16 other candidates.
Kanye, in his brief announcement, said he planned to run in the following election.
CNN reporter Eric Bradner contributed to this report. Contact Kristen DeSilva at kdesilva@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @kristendesilva
