Charles J. Morsa, January, 1936 - October 21, 2015
VP candidate for American Independent Party (1988)
Running mate with nominee: James C. Griffin (b. ca1937)
Popular vote: 27,818 (0.03%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
In 1988 the American Independent Party primary voters in California selected Jim Griffin, a truck driver from Mira Loma for President. Griffin had defeated James "Bo" Gritz in the primary by a decisive margin. At this point in history the AIP was pretty much limited to California.
At the convention in Aug. 1988 Griffin was narrowly nominated over competitor Charles Morsa, a realtor from Thousand Oaks, Calif., who was subsequently selected as his running-mate. Being from the same state would have proven to have been a Constitutional problem in the event they had won, but since they were only on the ballot in California the chances of that happening were less than zero.
The 1988 AIP platform, which had some surprising Left-leaning planks, included: Repeal of the personal income tax -- High tariffs -- End foreign aid -- Social Security should be strengthened -- Halt illegal immigration -- Protect family farms from bank foreclosures -- Full benefits for veterans -- Local control of public schools as opposed to federal -- Elect all judges -- Stay out of foreign wars -- Abolish the Federal Reserve -- Anti-abortion -- Pro-gun -- US withdraw from the UN.
Griffin campaigned mostly at truck stops and coffee shops, usually arriving in his semi-truck. His favorite crowd-pleasing line was, "The new IRS slogan is: 'We've got what it takes to take what you've got.'"
None of the third parties running in California were spoilers as Bush won over 51%. The AIP placed 5th out of five on the ballot, garnering 0.28% of the popular vote in the Golden State. 1988 would be the last Presidential election (so far) where the California AIP ran "home-grown" nominees who were not affiliated with another party.
Election history:
1986 - Ventura County (Calif.) Board of Supervisors - defeated
1988 - American Independent Party nomination for US President - defeated
1990 - Governor of California (American Independent Party) - primary - defeated
Other occupations: realtor
Buried: ?
Notes:
Ran in the 1986 race as a write-in
