Kenneth Robert Burck Jr., May 31, 1968 (Ohio) -
VP candidate for Tea Party (aka US Tea Party aka Independent) (2012)
Running mate with nominee: Robert John Burck (b. 1970)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Robert Burck ran for President in the 2012 election under his stage name of "Naked Cowboy," where he was chiefly known for busking in downtown NYC wearing only briefs, a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and a guitar.
In Oct. 2010 Burck cut his long hair, adorned a suit, and announced he was running for President. On Facebook he identified his older brother, Kenny, as his running-mate. Kenny was a rock musician and drummer for a band, Destroyer. They grew up in the Cincinnati area, where Jerry Springer once served as Mayor and perhaps served as a local inspiration that entertainers can also be politicians.
The fact these two nominees were brothers was not unusual in Electoral politics. Other brother tickets have included: Larry Brant Sargeant/Perry David Sargeant - American Freedom Party (1976), Lowell Jackson Fellure/James Monroe Fellure - Independent (2000), Diddley Squat V/Bupkes - Hamster Party (2004), Keith Russell Judd/Monty Wayne Judd - Nonpartisan (2008), Randal Gene Trackwell/Byron Lee Trackwell - Bullmoose Progressive Party (2008), Theodore Cleaver/Wallace Cleaver - Give America the Business Party (2008), Diddley Squat/Squit Squat - Hamster Party (2012).
The inevitable Naked Cowboy for President merchandising followed as well as an aggressive social media campaign. The press did not appear very interested in his political platform even though at his announcement he came across as quite serious ("No time for games," he said) and indicated a conservative philosophy throughout the campaign--
America needs a president who believes in America. America needs a president who will stand up for America and protect its language, its borders, and most importantly, its culture. What Americans need is a president who seeks to empower the people and to allow the free market to determine value, not a president intent on empowering Government and misappropriating the resources of the productive class. America, I will fight to give the power back to the people. My entire platform and all of my policies and decisions will be organized so as to achieve a much smaller, fiscally responsible, decentralized federal government, a robust economy run strictly on Free Market Principles, and the strongest National Defense on Earth.
I am not a Republican, I am not a Democrat, I am an American ... It is my goal and intention to lead the Tea Party to the office of the President of the United States of America.
America is rapidly transforming into a government-run enterprise ... American politicians are selling out America and its most cherished institution, that being capitalism.
I'm definitely conservative by nature. I believe in limited government, I am by nature an entrepreneur and a small businessman, and I've been very successful with that ... All the things that are conservative, I am by nature, and I see this country as going kind of in the opposite direction of that -- so I'm available.
America, you can count on me to be conservative through and through!
Careless immigration policies are allowing millions of foreigners to infiltrate this country.
Make English the universal tongue through and through.
If I don’t get one vote but I’ve told America what my concerns are, I’ve done my job.
The only moral system is capitalist ... We've got to get government out of the way and scale it down. Individuals and private businesses generate wealth.
Burck also advocated closing the borders, mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients, abolishing unions for public employees, reversing Obamacare, government agency hiring freeze, cutting the federal workforce by 40%, term limits for all government positions, bring back the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), and promote more offshore drilling so "America's enormous bounty of natural resources be made to obey the law of supply and demand."
A registered Republican in Ohio, the Naked Cowboy endorsed Romney in late Oct. 2012.
Election history: none.
Other occupations: rock musician
Notes:
The Naked Cowboy is also ordained to perform marriage ceremonies, which he did for Kenny in Times Square shortly after the election.
Within an hour of my first visit to Cincinnati in 2011 through a series of disconnected flukes I was introduced to a breakfast dish called goetta, saw a street named after Pete Rose, and was shaking hands with the Mayor.
