Once again, as a service and a distraction from this year's Presidential campaigns, we offer you some alternatives: Cartoon Characters who ran for president in the past. Maybe one of them will appeal to you and the masses...
Part Two: Winnie the Pooh For President!
Yes, that silly old bear ran for President four times between 1968 and 1980, despite the fact that he is British-born entity and not eligible for president. I assume he hoped no one would ask to see his birth certificate..
In 1968, At a special Disney Night at the Hollywood Bowl, Winnie the Pooh announced his first candidacy. No doubt the audience that night was surprised by this late entry into the presidential race, but Pooh did his best to get his message across. He did most of his campaigning at the Tomorrowland Terrace stage at Disneyland, where several times a day he would give his campaign speech as part of a Kids of the Kingdom show called "On Stage, USA." This first campaign would not prove successful as he was edged out by Nixon come election day. However, Pooh had gotten a taste for politics and recognized that his next campaign would require much larger backing...
1972 looked like it could be Pooh's year. He had gotten some big endorsements from both Disney and Sears, which backed a massive advertising campaign to get the word out that Pooh was a viable candidate. They went all out with daily "Pooh for President" parades down Main Street USA in both California and Florida (both key states with massive electoral votes). They also took a two week whistle-stop train tour of the United States, sponsored by Amtrak, stopping in various places between Los Angeles and Washington D.C. The train had a special boxcar that converted into a stage. Pooh could roll into town, give his campaign speech , then quickly roll away to the next town.
During the train tour, Tigger, Pooh's press secretary, began dropping hints that Owl was being seriously considered as Pooh's running mate. It was felt that Owl had the attributed necessary to appeal to both left and right wingers. However, Piglet ended up being the Silly Old Bear's choice for Vice President. Eeyore became his campaign manager. Below is some archival footage from Pooh's '72 campaign.
Pooh even held a Children's Party Convention in Walt Disney World, where 50 children (one from each state) and their families were selected to be delegates. They unanimously selected Pooh as their candidate despite a smear campaign by a rogue heffelump.
Despite the vigorous campaigning, Nixon again stole the election from Pooh. Well, there's always next year...
For his 1976 campaign, Pooh enlisted the help of award-winning musician Larry Groce to write his campaign song. Larry came up with "Pooh for President" and the record was given out at Sears outlets. The song was even nominated for a Grammy for Best Children's Record. The song promises honey in every pot, no taxes on toys and snacks for all (finally a campaign I can get behind). I know you'll want to hear it at least once, so here it is:
Pooh ended losing the Presidency to Jimmy Carter. At this point, many of Pooh's supporters felt he should hang up his hat and retire. However, Pooh, like Perot, felt he had one more campaign in him...
In 1980, Pooh ran his campaign in Disneyland. He ran against Captain Hook for his party's endorsement. Disneyland Guests ware encouraged to vote for one or the other, and despite a last-minute effort by Hook to (literally) steal the election, Pooh received the endorsement. However, by this point his election had run out of steam and Ronald Reagan was elected president.
In recent years, there has been some talk about Winnie the Pooh taking another stab at the presidency. However, recent issues Pooh has had with China's president (see HERE) have probably killed any future campaigns for the time being.
For much more info on Pooh's campaigns I direct you to the following article by Jim Korkis, just click HERE.
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