Jay Richard Moore, February 3, 1952 -
VP candidate for Common Man's Party (1988, 1992)
Running mate with nominee: Jack Richard Moore (1925-2004)
Popular vote (1988, 1992): ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote (1988, 1992): 0/538
The campaign (1988):
Jack Moore was a Church of God (Seventh-Day) lay preacher (he had found God in combat serving his country in WWII in the Navy) who was retired from the Cocoa Beach, Fla. Parks Dept. When he ran for President as a write-in in 1988 it wasn't entirely unfamiliar to him. He had run way back in 1960 as well as a resident of Ohio.
He was an old hand at grabbing headlines. He once preached for 72 hours nonstop in 1977 to gain a place in the record books. He worked with topless bars and strip clubs to allow religious services on their premises. He wanted to produce a Biblical play with nude actors portraying Adam and Eve, starring a local topless dancer. He once buried himself for three days around Easter.
He originally made serious attempts to ask Donna Rice to be his running-mate. She was the woman in question who basically ended Sen. Gary Hart's Presidential run, but then he discovered she was below the minimum age required by the Constitution to serve as VP. He also expressed a desire to invite Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. Gary Hart, or Sen. Al Gore as his VP. In the latter case he thought better of having a ticket called Moore/Gore.
But Moore ended up selecting his 35-year old son, Jay. Excitedly he contacted the Guinness Book of World Records, "They said we were the first father-son team ever to run as write-in candidates in a presidential election." That is half true. In 1980 there was a son-father team where the son was Presidential write-in candidate and the father was the VP-- William James Barton (1949-2002) of Chester, Ill. ran for President in the Independent Party of America and his father James William Barton (1922-1999) was the running-mate.
Moore told the press that if elected he would move the capitol from Washington, DC to Kansas. He also vowed to increase the amount in Social Security payments, and would pay off the national debt by selling all federal lands.
He campaigned in Melbourne, Fla. while wearing a Richard Nixon mask, which understandably confused the potential voters. His main transport was a slogan-covered 1975 Chevy Impala.
Moore claimed he was in third place in the polls shortly before Election Day, "You keep hearing it from the TV anchormen. They tell us: 'Bush is ahead. Dukakis is second. More to follow.'"
The campaign (1992):
Moore's 1992 effort was not quite as energetic as the previous election. It was also a much shorter campaign since he announced in July 1992 only after Ross Perot appeared to have left the race. Moore reasoned that he could provide a political home for the Perot refugees.
His initial VP choice, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, declined the honor. So once again the running-mate position defaulted to his son, Jay.
"The national debt," he told the press, "is still our biggest problem. I would sell off some of the government's assets, like land, to the richest people to pay off the debt. But they would have to be U.S. citizens. I wouldn't sell any government land to the Japanese or Arabs or anybody like that."
Moore also ran for President in 1996 and invited Gen. Colin Powell to be his running-mate but, incredibly, was turned down. Apparently Moore continued his final campaign on a solo ticket. He predicted the world would end in the year 2000.
Election history: none
Other occupations: ?
Notes:
Jay is a registered Democrat.
Although Jay's 1988 and 1992 places of residence are uncertain, the odds seem high that he lived in
Florida which would have Constitutionally given the ticket a potential legal barrier from office in the
event they won.
