Anthony Owen Colby, July 9, 1939 (Cerro Gordo, Iowa) -
VP candidate for Independent (1976)
Running mate with nominee: Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005)
Popular vote: 20,051 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
After US Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-MN) failed to secure the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 1968, a number of his followers campaigned for him as a third party candidate. McCarthy himself did not approve and in many but not all cases was able to have his name removed from the ballot. Different states ran his name under various party names with a variety of running mates, some of whom who were also not too thrilled to be listed: Coretta Scott King, Paul Newman, Dick Gregory, Paul O'Dwyer, and John Lindsay.
McCarthy made a brief foray into the Democratic Party primaries of 1972 but did not generate a lot of excitement. At some point after he dropped out of the race he left the Party, declared himself an Independent, and began a political journey to what could be described as libertarian centrism. As an Independent Presidential candidate in 1976 he is frequently better remembered for his high-profile legal battles to gain ballot access for third parties than for his political platform.
His 1976 VP situation made 1968 look tame. He was on the ballot in 29 states and a registered write-in in a few others. He had over 20 running mates. McCarthy himself said, "Vice-presidential candidates just clutter up the campaign. We should not ask the country to make two judgments. Everyone knows vice presidents have no influence on presidents once elected. Presidents' wives have much more influence. Perhaps we should have candidates' wives debate."
McCarthy's running-mate in Iowa was Vietnam War veteran (combat surgeon) turned anti-war Democrat Anthony "Tony" Owen Colby of Iowa City. Colby had been a McCarthy volunteer in 1968.
In a newspaper opinion piece, Colby wrote in Sept. 1976:
Jimmy Carter is the vote-hungry peanut vendor who begins every sentence with, "When Ah'm President we're gonna have ... " and he offers everything, like an evangelic Santa Claus, presuming that all good things come either from heaven or the North Pole. Ford, on the other hand, is a wearied cheerleader in a sad football game screaming, "Defense, Defense," as though another nuclear warhead or another bomber will ward away the problems of an evolving world.
The major problem today is perhaps even greater than the Vietnam war when McCarthy spoke out in 1968. McCarthy is the only person even to address this problem. This is not an act of cynicism but of necessity. The problem is complex, demanding more energy and time of our most gifted people than any other crisis in the history of this nation. The question goes something like this: how are we to conduct our government and economy in a world of finite and limited resources at a time when other nations are being forced to understand and live in this same finite world? It is a simple question of survival. Henry Kissinger leaps about like a latter day Hopalong Cassidy hoping to still the flames of international unrest. He is usually too late, offering too little.
At one point in the campaign Dr. Colby appeared at an event back to back with Elliott Richardson who was stumping for President Ford.
The McCarthy ticket finished with 1.57% of the vote in Iowa (McCarthy's 10 strongest finish in the country). Their results probably acted as a spoiler, giving the state to President Ford. Nationally McCarthy won 0.91% of the popular poll.
Election history: none
Other occupations: military surgeon (Vietnam War), doctor, author, novelist
Notes:
Washington State connection: Colby performed his medical internship at Mountain View Hospital in Tacoma about 1964-1965.
