Jaime Elizabeth Pressly, July 30, 1977 (Kinston, NC) -
VP candidate for Americans for a Better Party (aka Party Without the Politics) (2004)
Running mate with nominee: Captain Morgan (b. 1944)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
In 1944 the Canadian-based Seagram Co. began marketing their Captain Morgan rum. The label mascot was named after a real person, Sir Henry Morgan (ca1635–1688), a Welsh privateer who terrorized Spanish vessels and settlements in the Caribbean. He later served as the Governor of Jamaica, so the real Morgan actually did hold a political office!
As part of a publicity campaign the Seagram's Captain Morgan character ran for President in 2000, but apparently without a running-mate. Shortly after the election Seagram's sold the brand to Diageo, headquartered in the United Kingdom. The new owners expanded the Presidential campaign marketing concept in 2004.
Under the guidance of the marketing firm BFG (now called 9Rooftops), the 2004 Captain Morgan for President effort was launched under the "Americans for a Better Party" campaign. This included over 1,000 staged public "rallies" across the United States.
One of the more colorful aspects of the electioneering included someone in a Capt. Morgan costume making personal appearances. In one such visit late in the campaign in Los Angeles, he indicated the actress Jaime Pressly was his running-mate. Pressly's reaction was not recorded but in the publicity photos she looks like she was on board and a good sport about it.
Some complications here regarding the Constitution. First, Capt. Morgan the mascot is a fictitious character. Secondly, even if he was real, he's Welsh. Third, if they were running the real Capt. Morgan, he's dead. Fourth, Pressly was too young in 2004 to serve as Vice-President.
Election history: none
Other occupations: actress, model
Notes:
She was one of the stars in the 2004 TV movie Evel Knievel. Like herself, Knievel had also been a celebrity third party VP candidate (for the Magneto-hydrodynamics-Puritan Epic-Prohibition Party in 1976).
