Aaron M. Parker, January 6, 1971 -
VP candidate for Independent (1988)
Running mate with nominee: Thomas Edward Hapka (b. 1970)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Tom Hapka was a high school junior in Whitewater, Wis. when he decided to run for President. His running-mate Aaron Parker was one of his classmates.
They proposed cutting the defense budget to pay off the enormous national debt. They also pointed out that even though AIDS had become a pandemic, politicians from both major parties seemed almost afraid to address the issue. In fact, President Reagan never once mentioned it in public during his two terms in office when the disease was spreading rapidly.
Parker told the press, "We need fresh ideas, and we need younger people in politics ... running is a very satisfying experience-- I've never had my say before." But he also pointed out that a real-life political future was not for him, "A junior in high school who is the running mate for a presidential candidate who is also a junior is a safe way to air views, but I wouldn't want to take on the responsibility."
Addressing the fact they were far too young to meet the Constitutional minimum age requirement of 35 in order to hold office, Parker countered that a maximum age should be employed. Reagan turned 77 in 1988.
News coverage of the Hapka/Parker ticket seems to have faded after March, 1988 and no votes had been reported for them on Election Day.
Election history: none.
Other occupations: programmer/analyst, software engineer
Notes:
Aside from their ages, the duo would have the other Constitutional problem of being residents of the
same state.
Hapka became a brain injury survivor later in life and helped form an activist group, Life Beyond
Brain Injury.
Among the first of the Gen X tickets.
