George Robert Weaver, August 25, 1928 (Kansas City, Mo.) - June 29, 2007 (Tulsa, Okla.)
VP candidate for Independent (1984, 1988)
Running mate with nominee: Earl Edward Black (b. 1933)
Popular vote (1984, 1988): ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote (1984, 1988): 0/538
The campaign (1984, 1988):
E.E. Black ran for President in 1980 (no record of a running mate was found in that one) and was back again in 1984 and 1988. He worked at the APCO gas station in Caney, Kan. He was running because "I just want to go for the big one."
His platform was a culturally conservative one. He advocated a four year freeze on immigration and a $100 reward "to any U.S. citizen that turns in an illegal alien." Black was no friend of Gay rights: "Being Gay is nothing but a nasty habit." Election ballots should only be printed in English: "The Constitution wasn't written in Chinese or whatever."
He also promised to put an end to what he terms "those wild parties they have up there" in Washington DC. "There'll be few of them. I hear they have a lot of parties up there on taxpayers' money, and I'll cut that out."
He also proposed a monthly federal lottery to fund Social Security and unemployment programs. He would stop all foreign aid. He also wanted to build more prisons.
Black's running mate was George Weaver, also of Caney, who was touted as "a veteran, and a truck driver with over 1 1/2 million miles on the road." When a reporter asked Black if they could speak to Weaver during the last weeks of the campaign the response was, "Naw, he's working. He's operating a lathe. They got him on a training program right now for two or three weeks. Then they are going to put him on the night shift."
E.E. did have some national exposure, including an appearance with David Letterman. He attempted to raise campaign funds by selling souvenirs such as copies of his platform and special drinking cups.
The only difference I can see between the 1984 and 1988 campaigns is that Black had much more attention from the press in the earlier case. In both instances he was running strictly as a write-in and the total number of popular votes was never really tabulated.
Election history: none
Other occupations: soldier, truck driver, lathe operator
Buried: ?
Notes:
Since Black and Weaver were from the same state there would have been a Constitutional problem in the event they had won.
