William Murray Weidman, December 7, 1936 (Kansas City, Mo.) - July 10, 2017 (Fort Smith, Ark.)
VP candidate for Apathy Party (aka Apathy Party of Arkansas) (1992)
Running mate with nominee: James Harlan Boren (1925-2010)
Popular vote: 956 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
It was Jim ("When in doubt, mumble") Boren's fourth time on a Presidential ticket. He ran for President in 1972 and 1984 under the Bureaucratic Party banner, and in 1988 for Vice-President with any party that would take him. In 1992 he originally ran in the Democratic Party primaries but then decided to run for President as part of the Apathy Party.
Although Boren lived in Tahlequah, Okla. as the Scholar-in-Residence at Northeastern State University, his campaign seemed centered in neighboring Arkansas, the only state where he actually made the ballot. The Apathy Party convention was held July 1992 in the Old Fort Brew Pub in Fort Smith, Ark. The owner, William Weidman, was presented with the honor of being Boren's running-mate. In praising the virtues of his VP, Boren said, "He cannot only spell 'potato' but names of other vegtables as well."
Weidman and his family brewed several different types of beers at his pub, which had opened only a few months before the Apathy Party convention. His establishment was noted as "the first modern brewpub in Arkansas." Due to the rather antiquated alcohol laws in Arkansas, the only place where one could drink the beer was in the pub itself. Weidman had some political experience in tangling with Arkansas lawmakers to change the laws to not be so restrictive. In 1995 the Weidmans closed the pub and concentrated on the brewery business until 2002.
Boren promised that if elected he would not steal in his first two years in office. Shamelessly pandering to Arkansas voters, he proposed moving the Pentagon to Fort Smith, the Air Force Academy to Russellville, the Coast Guard to Toad Suck Ferry, the Treasury Dept. to Little Rock, and the US Mint to Hot Springs.
Some other Borenisms in the 1992 campaign--
I looked at the largest bloc of voters being ignored-- the people who didn't care or were disgusted. That fit in line with my philosophy, which is one of dynamic inaction-- doing nothing but doing it in style.
I try to orchestrate all the joyful qualities of marginal stupidity to present myself as an honest candidate. I never let ignorance stand in the way of what I think.
I've also developed the Jim Boren formula for political truth. A half-truth, plus a half-truth, equals a whole truth. Like George Bush I always tell the truth, a half-truth at a time.
I've got what it takes to take what you got. [American Independent Party Presidential nominee Jim Griffin used this same line to describe the IRS in the 1988 campaign]
I think the nation is ready for a president who will carry out the mandate of the people, who demand that the government stop whatever it is doing because it is not working. If anyone knows how to stop or how not to work, I am that man.
On a cash-in-advance basis, I would sell half of our stockpiled military weapons to Hussein of Iraq, Khadafy of Libya, and any other terrorists with cash. Then I would assign delivery of the weapons to the postmaster general ... and it would never be delivered.
If I'm ever caught with my hand in the cookie jar, I'll return the jar.
In a serious move, Boren sued the State of Oklahoma for not allowing him to run as a write-in candidate. Unfortunately, he lost his case. "When the people are denied full freedom of expression at the ballot box," he said, "it is wrong and all the fancy words of election board bureaucrats and the Supreme Court cannot make it right ... The Supreme Court apparently does not consider the right to vote a fundamental right in a democracy."
Named on the ballot as Honest Jim Boren and Wild Bill Weidman, the ticket earned 956 votes in Arkansas, 0.10% of the tally there, placing 7th out of 13. They were registered write-ins in Missouri but had no votes in that state.
Boren himself voted for Clinton in Oklahoma but offered a concession speech of sorts. He said the Apathy Party really won since 70 million people did not vote, but Boren would give Clinton "my more or less full support." Boren added, "It is in the spirit of dynamic inaction that we await your call to duty. We're in no hurry, of course."
Election history: none.
Other occupations: organic chemist, plastics company operator, owner of the Old Fort Brew Pub in Fort Smith Ark, philanthropist.
Buried: Calvary Cemetery (Fort Smith, Ark.)
Notes:
Died only four days after his wife Peggy.
"If you can't buy it at Walmart, then you don't need it"--Bill Weidman.
Catholic.
