1981
1987
Vermin Love Supreme, June 3, 1961 (Rockport, Mass.) -
VP candidate for Rent is Too Damn High Party (2012)
VP candidate for Guns and Dope Party (2016)
Running mate with nominee (2012): James McMillan III (b. 1946)
Running mate with nominee (2016): White Lightning IIIV
Popular vote (2012, 2016): ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote (2012, 2016): 0/538
The campaign (2012):
It would be tempting to call Vermin Supreme a true eccentric, except for the fact he has made his persona a commercial commodity using a sophisticated sense of marketing and offers a large catalog of merchandise as well as paid memberships to a Vermin Supreme Fan Club. An astute absurdist performance artist and sharply hilarious political satirist, yes. But eccentric, no, not like Gene Amondson of the Prohibition Party or Merrill Keith Riddick of the Magneto-hydrodynamics-Puritan Epic-Prohibition Party, Independent Rachelle OneFamily Miller, or Independent Republican Saint Michael Jesus the Archangel.
In fact, you could say Vermin is not eccentric at all but instead a real Norm, Norman Scott Taylor that is, his real name before he said he legally changed it to Vermin Love Supreme at some point in the 1990s as his brand began to grow.
Supreme has a long history of making political statements via performance art. As a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1981, he sealed himself inside a glass cage with barbed wire for over 7 hours while wearing a gas mask and camo as a way to protest U.S. policy in El Salvador. In a statement to a reporter, he set a thesis for the rest of his activist career, "I did it for the reaction, to remind people, to make people think ... the artist has a definite role to make people look at the world differently."
Supreme is too engaged in the community for me to consider him an eccentric, and given his understanding of how social conditioning works in politics I will instead label him a "Mockiavellian." As an admirer of Machiavelli, I mean that as a compliment.
The earliest mention I find of the name "Vermin Supreme" is in 1985 when he was identified by a Baltimore newspaper as the manager of the Fabulous Galaxy Lounge, a venue noted for sometimes offbeat entertainment. The earliest mention of Vermin wearing an upended boot as headgear that showed up in my search was in 1992 when he ran for "US Mayor." Prior to that he was usually described in the press as wearing a tam o' shanter.
By 2011 he was considered a surrealist perennial candidate national figure and made the news that year when he sang at a debate and then glitterbombed fellow Presidential candidate Randall Terry.
On Groundhog Day, 2012 Supreme "debated" Jimmy McMillan, who was engaged in running for President in the Republican primaries while Supreme was in the Democratic. Later as both of their attempts within the major parties fizzled, they continued to campaign in their own third parties (McMillan's being the Rent is Too Damn High Party). On Aug. 25 Supreme announced the formation of the Free Pony Party. A pact was made with McMillan that they would serve as the running-mate for the other, a "double-meme team," as Supreme put it.
However, McMillan's role as a Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidate came to an end on Sept. 13, 2012 when he declared he was suspending his campaign in order to concentrate on running for Mayor of New York in 2013. In the process he also endorsed Obama--
President Barack Obama messed up. Republican Party had a chance to beat him ... But when the Republican Party decided to choose Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney said he don’t support the very poor. How can I support him? So, even though Barack Obama don’t know what he’s doing, I have no choice but to vote for Barack Obama to keep the Republican Party out.
Since 2012 Supreme has gravitated to the Libertarian Party.
The campaign (2016):
"White Lightning IIIV" from the Pittsburgh area announced his run for the Presidency on Twitter in late Aug. 2015 and provided photo shots of his FEC registration. Although not the official candidate of the real Guns and Dope Party (who promote "Everybody for President") White Lightning ran under their banner.
On the website RAWillumination.net (inspired in art by the late Robert Anton Wilson, hence RAW), White Lightning was sent some interview questions and chose to answer in one long soliloquy. The strong language bleeps are mine--
"First off let me say thanks and I also would like to point out (you can put this in your article if you want) that I will answer some questions with a sort of odd twist that pertains to my f****d up persona."
"I White Lightning, have spent a musical career basically pretending to be a human thats is comprised of all the social constructions that have been devised by americans in the form of racism, religion-based discrimination, and all around f****d up beliefs. The whole goal of White Lightning was to create a character so absurd yet would also make the listener take a good look and evaluation of their own life. I decided to run for president initially because I thought it could be a good album topic. However, the reason now is to show that even a candidate running under a party named "guns and dope party" has far better ideas than any other s***wad who actually has a chance of winning. Yes Hillary Donald and Jeb, I'm talking to you. I now run to promote the great ideas of my party and spread awareness that congress in fact is turning into a piece of s**t. Though I initially stated my album was the inspiration to me running, I honestly couldn't care less how the sales do. White Lightning albums are literally based after what I thought cancer sounds like. The new motive is to fall second behind deez nuts in write ins as well as achieve my ultimate goal, start a Twitter war with at least one major f****r in congress. It's harder than you'd think. The guns and dope party literally is the most badass political party ever conceived. Its literally like if Abe Lincoln and Chuck Norris had the best sex of their lives and conceived a beautiful and promise filled political party that basically talks about how awesome ostriches and dope are. The number one thing that I actually and seriously agree with (to a limit if we are being serious) is the idea that people really should be able to do whatever the F**k they want. I mean this not in a sense where I think people should be allowed to rape and murder people, but I believe that is people want to be gay, have abortions, smoke some dope, shoot off a gun(however, I will actually admit I believe that the gun registration process is a bit to s****y and easy in this country) marry a cat, or be a retard, we really should just f*****g let them. I get really ticked off at issues with religious intervention because it's just a whole waste that only delays our progress as a society. Most of the bible preaching republican f**k boys haven't even read the damn book nor have they read or realized it's an out of date, sex and incest filled, s****y user of symbolism, and all around boring book. I'm also a registered Dudist Priest so if you want to join a religioun that promotes bowling, white Russian cocktails, and doing whatever the F**k you want, join Dudeism. It's also free. I have problems with both democrats and republicans, but the only candidate I see having any chance at being fairly decent is Joe Biden because he's like that f*****g crazy uncle that is secretly a badass. And he's not even running yet. If any readers come across this interview, my main message is take time to look for a candidate that you actually want running your country, even if it's not a main candidate. Actually, especially if it's not a main candidate. Thank you."
On the heels of White Lightning's statement was a brief missive from another musician who called himself Big Ball Bumpty--
"Hey Tom, It's the triple B! You mentioned me on your latest post. Me and White Lightning go WAAYYYY BACK (Proof: Build-a-Bear Workshop (ft. White Lightning), by BigBallBumpty). We basically invented a subgenre of hip hop and f**k. If his answer to your questions were too weird (idk), ask me or some s**t. I plan to be vice president under his position. My submission has been confirmed. AMA I guess. We do indeed have motives."
In late Sept. early Oct. 2016 the Guns and Dope Party issued an official Party declaration--
"The GADP does not endorse any candidate claiming to run as the official GADP candidate. There is no official GADP candidate, except perhaps occasionally when Olga inexplicably decides to campaign for President of Multiverse. Despite the impressive detailed descriptions of plausible interstellar propulsion systems and the outrageous uniforms, we suspect she is not serious, but no one has actually asked."
Shortly before the election, White Lightning stepped into the same venue and made a correction--
"I would just like to discredit a previous interview with Big Ball Bumpty about him being my VP. BBB is a registered sex offender and necrophiliac. He is also a sellout. I actually plan on making Vermin Supreme my VP. I am also pleased to announce that through your support, we have gone up 0.001% in the polls. It's a good start. Thanks again!
Sincerely,
White Lighting"
If Supreme had a response I have not found it.
Election history:
1987 - Mayor of Baltimore, Md. - defeated
1989 - Mayor of Detroit, Mich. - defeated
1992 - "U.S. Mayor" - nonexistent position
1996 - Republican or Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
1996 - US President (Independent) - defeated
2000 - Republican or Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
2004 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
2008 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
2008 - US President (Independent) (as "Ken Stevenson") - defeated
2012 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
2012 - US President (Free Pony Party) - defeated
2016 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
2016 - Libertarian Party nomination for US President - defeated
2018 - Kansas Attorney General (Republican) - primary - disqualified from ballot
2020 - Libertarian Party nomination for US President - defeated
2020 - Libertarian Party nomination for US Vice-President - defeated
2020 - US Senate (Mass.) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
Other occupations: performance artist, activist, actor, nightclub promoter, author, construction worker, house painter, Libertarian Party Judicial Committee
Notes:
Supreme's 2020 Libertarian Party VP was Spike Cohen, who achieved the nomination on the national ticket.
