Michelle Marie Tidball

 

Michelle Marie Tidball, January 1, 1963 (San Diego County, Calif.) -

VP candidate for Birthday Party (aka Non Affiliated aka Independent aka Unaffiliated aka No Party) (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Kanye Omari West (b. 1977)
Popular vote: 71,079 (0.04%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Entertainer Kanye West, who had been identified as a pro-Trump Christian conservative in recent years, announced he was running for President on July 4, 2020. Giving his address as Cody, Wyo., he filed with the FEC under the Birthday Party on July 16, 2020. His running mate was also from Cody, a Biblical life coach, dental office worker, and self-proclaimed servant of God named Michelle Tidball.

Tidball had an autobiography on her commercial webpage that had been removed by the time of the campaign--

I had my first encounter with God as six months old when my mother awoke to find that I was slipping away into a crib death. In a hospital tent God first visited me and spoke life and destiny which I can still recall today. My childhood consisted of visitations and atmospheric encounters. Being raised in the church I loved God, encountered Him, but wanted to know more. At seventeen I had an encounter in the heavenly realms and made a decision to serve Him all the days of my life. The first thing God did was teach me about His Sabbath, Feasts, and Word!  I began walking in His cycles and began to know and understand.

I have various degrees in mental health and criminal justice. I worked as a mental health therapist for ten years and then shifted into life coaching. This seemed a good transition helping people get “unstuck” in their lives using biblical principles and prophetic insight. I use this as well to help sons who are “stuck” and are not encountering God as they were designed to.

I have been involved in almost all aspects of ministry including speaking, pastoring, prayer, teaching, and the most time spent in bringing deliverance to those who are in bondage. My heart has always been to walk in the fullness of sonship and to bring others into manifesting their sonship – to be about His business and see the completion of things He mandated before the foundations of the world.

I look forward to bringing the word with experience and practical counsel on walking as brilliant sons manifested upon the earth!

Shalom!

Michelle

For the most part Tidball remained elusive to the media and took little part in the electioneering.

West's official platform was released on his campaign website--

Kanye West Presidential Platform

1. Restore faith and revive our Constitutional commitment to freedom of religion and the free exercise of one’s faith, demonstrated by restoring prayer in the classroom including spiritual foundations.

We will not hide the truth from our children, but will declare to the next generation His praises and wonder. Psalm 78:4

2. Restore the sound national economy. Reduce household debt and student loan debt.

God has plans to give us hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

3. Provide leadership to restructure our country’s education system to serve the most at-risk and vulnerable populations allowing the widest possible range of educational and vocational paths to job opportunities and career success.

Direct your children on the right path. Proverbs 22:6

4. Maintain a strong national defense, fully prepared, but not so quick to tie up our country’s young men and women in foreign quagmires that do not advance our national interest, and which last for decades.

Through God we shall do valiantly. Psalm 60:12

5. Reform the legal system to provide true justice, equitable for all citizens, regardless of race or ability to defend oneself in court. Recognize the disparity in verdicts and prison sentences, caused by the lack of financial resources or legal assistance.

There will not be differing weights and differing measures. Proverbs 20:10

6. Reform the approach to policing in a manner that treats all Americans the same, regardless of race, color, or ethnicity. Refocus police forces on real crime. Eliminate federal sentencing guidelines that tie the hands of judges, resulting in ridiculous sentences for the most minor offenses.

We will speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Proverbs 31:8

7. Take care of the environment, diligently pursuing clean air and water as a national security priority and making renewables top priority.

The past is forgotten and everything can be new 2 Corinthians 5:17
8. Ensure that we always place Americans’ best interest first and foremost in dealing with foreign affairs. We must project strength, not aggression. We want trust, but we must also verify. We want fair trade, not one-sided deals that hurt American workers.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

9. Support faith-based groups to provide vital local services, giving communities a shared purpose in government.

We will provide ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works Hebrews 10:24

10. Creativity and the Arts can be an important source of innovation and development of other national strengths and resources.

He has given them skill in all kinds of work done. Exodus 35:35

As the campaign began it was apparent West knew a lot more about how to gain publicity than he did about the basic workings of government. On July 8 he had a long interview with Forbes which was used a reference point until Election Day. Some quotes--

I would run as a Republican if Trump wasn’t there. I will run as an independent if Trump is there.

Trump is the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation.

One of the main reasons I wore the red hat as a protest to the segregation of votes in the Black community. Also, other than the fact that I like Trump hotels and the saxophones in the lobby.

One time I talked to Jared Kushner, who was saying, ‘We don’t have Black leaders, we just have hustlers.’ Why? Because they killed all the Black leaders.

That is a form of racism and white supremacy and white control to say that all Black people need to be Democrat and to assume that me running is me splitting the vote. All of that information is being charged up on social media platforms by Democrats. And Democrats used to tell me, the same Democrats have threatened me. . . . The reason why this is the first day I registered to vote is because I was scared. I was told that if I voted on Trump my music career would be over. I was threatened into being in one party. I was threatened as a celebrity into being in one party. I was threatened as a Black man into the Democratic party. And that’s what the Democrats are doing, emotionally, to my people. Threatening them to the point where this white man can tell a Black man if you don’t vote for me, you’re not Black.

Let’s see if the appointing is at 2020 or if it’s 2024—because God appoints the president. If I win in 2020 then it was God’s appointment. If I win in 2024 then that was God’s appointment.

It’s so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed. . . . So when they say the way we’re going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. That’s the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven. I'm sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them. And the sad thing is that, the saddest thing is that we all won’t make it to heaven, that there’ll be some of us that do not make it. Next question.

God just gave me the clarity and said it’s time. You know I was out there, ended up in the hospital, people were calling me crazy. I'm not crazy. Between all of the influences and the positions that we can be put in as musicians—you go on tour, you put out all these albums, and you look up and you don’t have any money in your account. It can drive you crazy, through all of that I was looking crazy because it wasn’t the time. Now it’s time. And we’re not going crazy, we’re going Yeezy, it’s a whole ‘notha level now. N-O-T-H-A.

I don’t know if I would use the word ‘policy’ for the way I would approach things. I don’t have a policy when I went to Nike and designed Yeezy and went to Louis and designed a Louis Vuitton at the same time. It wasn’t a policy, it was a design. We need to innovate the design to be able to free the mind at this time.

A lot of Africans do not like the movie [Black Panther] and representation of themselves in…Wakanda. But I’m gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it’s the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House…That is a positive idea: you got Kanye West, one of the most powerful humans—I’m not saying the most because you got a lot of alien-level superpowers and it’s only collectively that we can set it free. Let’s get back to Wakanda . . . like in the movie in Wakanda when the king went to visit that lead scientist to have the shoes wrap around her shoes. Just the amount of innovation that can happen, the amount of innovation in medicine—like big pharma—we are going to work, innovate, together. This is not going to be some Nipsey Hussle being murdered, they’re doing a documentary, we have so many soldiers that die for our freedom, our freedom of information, that there is a cure for AIDS out there, there is going to be a mix of big pharma and holistic.

West had registered to vote for the first time in his life at the same time he announced. Even with the backing of Elon Musk and several Republican operatives, West's attempt to gain ballot access in several states was something of a debacle. Missed deadlines and suspicious petition signatures were part of the problem.

The candidate found himself frequently defending his campaign against charges that he was either in the race for commercial self-promotion, or, was a Trump-backed ringer designed to draw votes away from Biden.

There was also a weird sideshow that began in mid-August--

The far Right and Christian-based American Independent Party in California, which had nominated Trump/Pence in 2016, chose Rocky De La Fuente as their nominee, who was already the nominee of the Alliance and Reform parties. But De La Fuente's running-mate Darcy Richardson was bumped as the VP and replaced with Kanye West. Apparently this VP choice was accomplished without input from any of the nominees. De La Fuente said, "I was not consulted to see if I wanted Mr. West as my running mate ... Obviously, we're a weird—and I wanted Mr. Richardson as my running mate—but it was their decision and their decision only."

De La Fuente had entered the AIP primary in Mar. 2020, but came in second to Phil Collins, who was also the Prohibition Party nominee for President.

The Independent Political Report quoted Darcy Richardson--

“Please let Rocky know that if he runs with the unstable, bi-polar Trump-loving Kanye West in California that I will withdraw as his vice-presidential running mate nationally,” Richardson declared in a text message to [AIP official Mark] Seidenberg earlier today. “I’ve spent my entire adult life battling the duopoly and certainly DO NOT want my name associated with a candidacy that peripherally includes a Trump/GOP plant like the unhinged rapper….Bill Shearer must be rolling over in his grave.”

It should be noted that Richardson did remain in the race, or at that was my impression when I posted our interview Oct. 6, 2020. In it he said--

Rocky and I are on the ballot in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont.  We also hope to be official write-in candidates in a couple of dozen states.

Rocky is also on the ballot in populous California where --- much to my chagrin --- he's paired with unhinged, pro-Trump rapper Kanye West on the American Independent Party ticket, a remnant of segregationist George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign.

https://thirdpartysecondbananas.blogspot.com/2020/10/darcy-richardson-2020-vp-alliance-party.html

West was also not pleased with being nominated VP, calling the AIP "deceitful" and issued a statement that included, "I am campaigning to be the next president of our great country — not vice president ... The political party in California that listed my name as its VP candidate has done so without my knowledge ... Californians, I ask for your vote for president and urge you to write in ‘Kanye West.’"

The De La Fuente/West ticket placed 5th out of the 6 positions on the California ballot with 0.34% of the vote in that state. It was by far De La Fuente's largest bloc of votes nationally.

Back to the Birthday Party vote tally-- West was on the ballot in a dozen states and registered as a write-in a dozen more. His strongest results: Utah 0.48%, Idaho 0.42%, Oklahoma 0.36%, Arkansas and Tennessee and Vermont 0.34% each, Kentucky 0.30%, Mississippi 0.28%, Colorado 0.25%. Amazingly, the West/Tidnall ticket finished in 7th place, ahead of several longtime third parties such as the Constitution and Socialist Workers parties.

West has been teasing a run for 2024.

Election history: none

Other occupations: therapist, life coach, dental officer worker, pastor

Notes:
She has had numerous surnames over the years but Tidball seems to be her name at birth.

Darcy George Richardson

 

Darcy George Richardson, December 6, 1955 (Pittsburgh, Penn.) -  

VP candidate for Alliance Party (aka Independent aka Independent Republican aka Reform Party of the United States of America aka Natural Law Party aka Independence Party) (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Roque De La Fuente Guerra (b. 1954)
Popular vote: 28,098 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Perennial candidate Rocky De La Fuente had an interesting year in 2020. He initially ran for the Republican Presidential nomination and at the same time entered the Republican primary for the 21st congressional district in California. In the latter race, his son was running in the primary as a Democrat. In all of these cases, victory proved elusive.

Although De La Fuente had initially filed with the FEC as a Republican on May 16, 2019 he went on to gain the Presidential nomination of the Alliance Party on Apr. 25, 2020. On June 20, 2020, the Reform Party also nominated De La Fuente, just as they had in 2016. The Natural Law Party jumped on board and backed his candidacy as well. His 2020 running-mate in each of these cases was Darcy Richardson.

Richardson has a long history with third parties, both as a candidate, political operative, and historian. He is the author of A Nation Divided: The 1968 Presidential Campaign (2002) as well as several works on the history of third parties in US politics. I must say I have consulted his research several times in the course of constructing this blog.

Richardson's fascinating career has included working with Eugene McCarthy during the former US Senator's final two runs for the Presidency in 1988 and 1992. Darcy was the National Chair of The New Democrats during that same time period. He has been a consistent champion and activist for challenging the Republican/Democratic duopoly. In 2018 he was the Reform Party's nominee for Governor of Florida. On July 15, 2019 he had filed with the FEC for President as a Reform Party candidate, but later withdrew as other options surfaced.

More than any other person in my generation, Richardson's political journey is basically the history of third parties in late 20th/early 21st century America. No doubt I am missing a few entities here, he has also been linked as candidate or campaign worker with the Democratic Party, Citizens Party, Consumer Party, New Democrat, Boston Tea Party, Reform Party of the United States of America, Peace and Freedom Party, just plain Independent, Alliance Party, Socialist Party of the United States of America, Independent Republican, Independence Party, Natural Law Party, and Minnesota Progressives. It is possible he holds the record in this regard among third party VPs.

Although the Alliance Party was a new entity it was comprised of several older political parties now operating under one name. The Party's website offered a summary of their genealogy--

How the Alliance Formed

America’s growing dissatisfaction with a failing, polarizing two-party system and recognizing there is strength in numbers and a deep desire to put people and country over politics and greed, eleven independent political parties merged under one banner - The Alliance Party.

On October 14, 2018, in Denver, Colorado, three political parties - the American Moderates Party, the Modern Whig Party and the American Party of South Carolina - agreed to merge to create The Alliance Party.  On January 4, 2019, the Alliance Party officially registered with the Federal Elections Commission.

The following parties merged into the Alliance after the merger of the original three.

    Independence Party of Minnesota (2019)
    American Alliance Party (2019)
    Independent Party of Connecticut (2020)
    American Delta Party (2020)

Prior to the 2018 meeting, six independent parties had merged into the Modern Whig Party between 2008 and 2016.

    USA Party (2008)
    Veterans Party (2008)
    American Centrist Party (2010)
    Center Party (2010)
    National Centrist Party (2011)
    American Moderate Party of California (2016)

Discussions are under way with other independent, grassroots parties and organizations to join the Alliance.

Rather than issuing a platform the Party released a "Manifesto" with a message they viewed as pragmatic and centrist. Instead of picking through this long document, I'll focus on two items that seem to get to the core of their philosophy as it relates to the issues of 2020. First, their requirements in order to be a candidate under their banner, as found in the Nov. 2020 website--

All Alliance candidates are held to high expectations and requirements, because public service by way of elected office is among the highest of callings.

We require, monitor and enforce term limits for all of our federal and state legislative offices.

In addition, we require transparency from candidates when running for office and while serving in office. Requirements for federal and state legislative include fully disclosing all contributions during campaigns and while in office; providing redacted copies of their 1040 personal tax returns from the most recent three years; providing annual disclosure of all income received while in office during the preceding year, including the source and amount.

We expect all Alliance candidates and elected officials to demonstrate civility, honesty, tolerance and humility in their interactions with others. Each candidate enters into a written agreement with the Alliance with regards to these expectations. You may find the State and Federal Agreement HERE, and the Local Agreement HERE. [I did not include hot links here--SW]

We expect all Alliance candidates and elected officials to function as pragmatic problem solvers. Functionally, this requirement means country over party; progress over ideology; with an emphasis on constituent concerns and needs.

The second item I found to be pertinent in regard to the peculiar state of the union in 2020 and the Alliance Party's standpoint came from Richardson's Vice-Presidential nominee acceptance speech on Apr. 25, 2020--

Hello everyone. It’s an honor and a privilege to be addressing the inaugural national convention of the Alliance Party, a party — as fate would have it — emerging on the American political scene in one of our nation’s darkest moments, an uncertain period in which the United States may be facing its greatest challenge in modern history.

The deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which has already claimed more than 53,000 American lives while exposing the inadequacies of the U.S. health care system, coupled with what will almost certainly be an ensuing deep recession or, more likely, a depression from which we are unlikely to soon recover, presents a most unpredictable future for all of mankind.

As national chairman James Rex — I love Jim, he’s great — has eloquently pointed out, the twin crises facing this country demonstrates just how ill-prepared the special interest-​dominated duopoly was in preparing for the kind of pandemic the country is now facing. Knowing that the kaleidoscopic impacts of climate change multiplies the threats of infectious diseases, and given the SARS, the Zika virus, MERS and Ebola outbreaks in recent decades and the very real possibility of a more widespread global pandemic in the near future, both parties share in the blame for this country’s unforgivable lack of preparedness.

As Jim has said repeatedly, the United States had ample warnings — decades, actually — yet our leaders had done little or nothing to prepare the country for the kind of pandemic we’re now tragically experiencing. How pathetic that the United States, once the manufacturing marvel of the world, had to rely on life-saving ventilators, masks and other basic Personal Protective Equipment from counties like China and South Korea at the outset of this deadly crisis.

Making matters worse, President Trump squandered at least eight weeks at the ​beginning of this health crisis calling the coronavirus a “hoax” — and that was only four months after he shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development’s PREDICT program, which was responsible for identifying and combating new emerging viruses. The President’s slash-and-burn approach to the scientific wing of the federal government also includes trying repeatedly —and sometimes with success — to cut funding for the CDC’s unit for fighting global pandemics. Shame on him.

But the Democrats, who have been reduced to second-guessing the Republicans in recent years, also share in the blame. They, too, have neglected science and research as federal funding for basic research in these critical areas has shrunk markedly over the past two decades during Democratic and Republican administrations alike. The Democrats controlled the House for half that period and, likewise, held a working majority in the U.S. Senate for ten of those twenty years.

​The forthcoming campaign will undoubtedly be a difficult one, but I am deeply honored and humbled to be part of this much-needed effort. I know that Rocky — the favorite son of all fifty states and of every country that still looks to the United States for leadership — feels the same way.

Following a steady forty-year decline, one in which our middle class was virtually hollowed out through misguided trade deals such as NAFTA, the Alliance Party, in my view, is the party this country has been waiting for — a party determined to end, once and for all, the hyper-partisanship and extreme polarization of American politics and, most importantly, a party capable of returning the United States to its historic, independent and positive role as a force for good around the globe.

We should once again be a beacon to the rest of the world, especially at a time when most nations are gripped with fear and uncertainty. We’re Americans, after all.

This is our moment. Let the Bloodless Revolution of the year Two Thousand and ​Twenty begin, ushering in a new and creative approach to the myriad issues facing our country which will once again make the United States of America a Gold Medalist nation in education, the environment and a world-class health care system while creating an innovative economy for the 21st Century that works for everyone, not just the investor class, or the so-called one percent.

Thank you and keep the faith. And stay safe everybody.

Something unexpected happened to the campaign on Aug. 15, 2020.  

The far Right and Christian-based American Independent Party in California, which had nominated Trump/Pence in 2016, chose De La Fuente as their nominee. But Richardson was bumped as the VP and replaced with Kanye West. Apparently this VP choice was accomplished without input from any of the nominees. De La Fuente said, "I was not consulted to see if I wanted Mr. West as my running mate ... Obviously, we're a weird— and I wanted Mr. Richardson as my running mate— but it was their decision and their decision only."

De La Fuente had entered the AIP primary in Mar. 2020, but came in second to Phil Collins, who was also the Prohibition Party nominee for President.

The Independent Political Report quoted Darcy Richardson--

“Please let Rocky know that if he runs with the unstable, bi-polar Trump-loving Kanye West in California that I will withdraw as his vice-presidential running mate nationally,” Richardson declared in a text message to [AIP official Mark] Seidenberg earlier today. “I’ve spent my entire adult life battling the duopoly and certainly DO NOT want my name associated with a candidacy that peripherally includes a Trump/GOP plant like the unhinged rapper….Bill Shearer must be rolling over in his grave.”

It should be noted that Richardson did remain in the race, or at that was my impression when I posted our interview Oct. 6, 2020. In it he said--

Rocky and I are on the ballot in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont.  We also hope to be official write-in candidates in a couple of dozen states.

Rocky is also on the ballot in populous California where --- much to my chagrin --- he's paired with unhinged, pro-Trump rapper Kanye West on the American Independent Party ticket, a remnant of segregationist George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign.

https://thirdpartysecondbananas.blogspot.com/2020/10/darcy-richardson-2020-vp-alliance-party.html

West was also not pleased with being nominated VP, calling the AIP "deceitful" and issued a statement that included, "I am campaigning to be the next president of our great country — not vice president ... The political party in California that listed my name as its VP candidate has done so without my knowledge ... Californians, I ask for your vote for president and urge you to write in ‘Kanye West.’"

The De La Fuente/West ticket placed 5th out of the 6 positions on the California ballot with 0.34% of the vote in that state. It was by far De La Fuente's largest bloc of votes nationally.

The ticket with Richardson as the VP made the ballot in 14 states and registered write-ins in at least 5 more. The strongest results (with party listing) were in Rhode Island 0.18% (Alliance) -- Minnesota 0.17% (Independence/Alliance) -- Idaho 0.17% (Independent) -- Maine 0.14% (Alliance) -- Arkansas 0.11% (Independent).

Election history:
1979 - Cheltenham Township Commission, Montgomery County, Penn. (Democrat) - defeated
1980 - Pennsylavania State Auditor General (Consumer Party) - defeated
1983 - Cheltenham Township Commission, Montgomery County, Penn. (Democrat) - defeated
1985 - Cheltenham Township Finance Officer, Montgomery County, Penn. (Democrat) - defeated
1988 - US Senate (Penn.) (Consumer Party) - defeated
1990 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Democratic) - primary - withdrew
1990 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Independent) - defeated
1991 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Consumer Party) - special election - replaced by party
1992 - Independent Voters Primary (Mass.) - defeated
2010 - Lt. Governor of Florida (No Party Affiliation) - defeated
2012 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
2012 - Reform Party of the United States of America nomination for US President - defeated
2016 - Reform Party of the United States of America nomination for US President - defeated
2018 - Florida House of Representatives (Reform Party of the United States of America) - withdrew
2018 - Governor of Florida (Reform Party of the United States of America) - defeated
2020 - Reform Party of the United States of America nomination for US President - withdrew

Other occupations: steamship industry worker, manufacturing manager for an industrial heat treating equipment firm, financial analyst and operations manager, historian, author, campaign manager, political party executive

Notes:
Winner of the 1988 election was H. John Heinz III.

Kanye Omari West

 

Kanye Omari West, June 8, 1977 (Atlanta, Ga.) -

VP candidate for Independent (2016)
VP candidate for American Independent Party (2020)
VP candidate for Independent (2020)

Running mate with nominee (2016): Ryan Higa (b. 1990)
Running mate with nominee (2020): Roque De La Fuente Guerra (b. 1954)
Running mate with nominee (2020): Sammy Kenyatte Belton (b. 1979)
Popular vote (2016): ? (0.00%)
Popular vote (2020 : AIP): 60,160 (0.04%)
Popular vote (2020 : Independent): 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote (2016, 2020): 0/538

The campaign (2016):

Comedian Ryan Higa, a major personality on Youtube, had run for President in 2012 in a mock campaign. He repeated the joke in 2016 ("Vote for me and all of your wildest dreams will be dreams") but this time named a running-mate, Kanye West. Well, the only clue to that is a brief mention in a video where Higa refers to West as "my future Vice-President."

No disrespect is intended here, but I am not in West's target demographic as far as his entertainment career goes. My first real exposure to him was in 2005 when, while standing beside comedian Mike Myers, he stated "George Bush doesn't care about black people" in the course of raising funds for relief of Hurricane Katrina victims.

Other than that I am dimly aware he is connected with the Kardashians (who I also know almost nothing about), my main source of information being the covers of gossip tabloids on display while I wait in line at the grocery store. Also that he has been struggling with mental health challenges and is prone to making controversial statements. And, I can see he has large following and is considered a gifted, brilliant musical artist.

West the politician has been erratic. Over time he has supported Democrats and Republicans, changing alliances in a dramatic fashion. In Sept. 2015 West announced he was planning to run for President in 2020. In an interview with Vanity Fair, West stated--

    "I sit in clubs and I’m like, Wow, I’ve got five years before I go and run for office and I’ve got a lot of research to do, I’ve got a lot of growing up to do. My dad has two masters degrees. My mom has a PhD, she used to work at Operation PUSH. Somehow the more and more creative I get, the closer and closer I get to who I was as a child. When I was a child, I was holding my mom’s hand at Operation PUSH. I think it’s time. Rap is great. It’s fun. It’s fun to be a rock star, and I’ll never not be one I guess, but there’ll be a point where I become my mother’s child. With all the things I’ve done that people would consider to be accomplishments, what’s the point where I become the person that Donda and Raymond West raised? My parents’ child."

The campaign (2020 : AIP):

As good as his word, West did indeed run for President in 2020. I'll cover that campaign when I profile his running-mate. Meanwhile--

Perennial candidate Rocky De La Fuente had an interesting year in 2020. He initially ran for the Republican Presidential nomination and at the same time entered the Republican primary for the 21st congressional district in California. In the latter race, his son was running in the primary as a Democrat. In all of these cases, victory proved elusive.

De La Fuente went on to gain the Presidential nomination of the Alliance Party on Apr. 25, 2020. On June 20, 2020, the Reform Party also nominated De La Fuente, just as they had in 2016. His 2020 running-mate was Darcy Richardson.

Then something unexpected happened on Aug. 15, 2020.  

The far Right and Christian-based American Independent Party in California, which had nominated Trump/Pence in 2016, chose De La Fuente as their nominee. But Richardson was bumped as the VP and replaced with Kanye West. Apparently this VP choice was accomplished without input from any of the nominees. De La Fuente said, "I was not consulted to see if I wanted Mr. West as my running mate ... Obviously, we're a weird—and I wanted Mr. Richardson as my running mate—but it was their decision and their decision only."

De La Fuente had entered the AIP primary in Mar. 2020, but came in second to Phil Collins, who was also the Prohibition Party nominee for President.

The Independent Political Report quoted Darcy Richardson--

“Please let Rocky know that if he runs with the unstable, bi-polar Trump-loving Kanye West in California that I will withdraw as his vice-presidential running mate nationally,” Richardson declared in a text message to [AIP official Mark] Seidenberg earlier today. “I’ve spent my entire adult life battling the duopoly and certainly DO NOT want my name associated with a candidacy that peripherally includes a Trump/GOP plant like the unhinged rapper….Bill Shearer must be rolling over in his grave.”

It should be noted that Richardson did remain in the race, or at that was my impression when I posted our interview Oct. 6, 2020. In it he said--

Rocky and I are on the ballot in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont.  We also hope to be official write-in candidates in a couple of dozen states.

Rocky is also on the ballot in populous California where --- much to my chagrin --- he's paired with unhinged, pro-Trump rapper Kanye West on the American Independent Party ticket, a remnant of segregationist George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign.

https://thirdpartysecondbananas.blogspot.com/2020/10/darcy-richardson-2020-vp-alliance-party.html

West was also not pleased with being nominated VP, calling the AIP "deceitful" and issued a statement that included, "I am campaigning to be the next president of our great country — not vice president ... The political party in California that listed my name as its VP candidate has done so without my knowledge ... Californians, I ask for your vote for president and urge you to write in ‘Kanye West.’"

The De La Fuente/West ticket placed 5th out of the 6 positions on the California ballot with 0.34% of the vote in that state. It was by far De La Fuente's largest bloc of votes nationally.

The campaign (2020 : Independent):

Sammy Belton, a hair stylist and musician of Milwaukee, Wis. filed as an Independent for US President with the FEC on July 25, 2020. An online petition he created provided a thesis statement for his campaign--

I Sammy K. Belton must be President of United States of America in order to bring justice to the families of African American men and women who lost their lives due to unethical conduct of law enforcement while yet honoring the noble officers who uphold the code of conduct with a significant raise in salary for upright law enforcement with more severe repercussions for infractions. I'd declare reparations and free healthcare for African Americans. Most importantly the constitution will reflect the biblical constitution of God.

His electioneering was chiefly on social media. In October he included Kanye West as his VP, although it is doubtful West himself knew about the honor or would have agreed to it. Some samples from Facebook (in many cases accompanied by a video presentation)--

July 20, 2020
We don’t own the music
The First Black President to follow God’s Laws
Vote Sammy Belton for President 2020
Sign the petition Now
Words of Wisdom & Warning
Conquering Corona Through Submission To Jesus Christ the Son of God & Savior to All Mankind

Oct. 10, 2020
We don’t own the music
Presidential Address
Make Sure You Write -In Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States
In Jesus Name
Supernatural Energy Aligning All Mankind Unto Christ

Oct. 11, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
Presidential Address
African American Jewish Reparation Foundation - $6 Trillion+Owed to African Americans
Celebrity Status Gospel Live
Fall of Man
Syncretic Deification -Taoism Wu Wei The Way 10 Precepts
Forbidden Fruit
Covid 19 In relation to This Election and God speaking to Wisconsin & America Through Me
Our Requirement to Establish The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States In Jesus Name!
Kanye West for Vice President
“Don’t keep blaming white people and police for our disobedience to God as Black People “
As we unite in Christ as African Americans the world will follow God!

Oct. 13, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
True Birth of Jesus Christ 3/19
COVID-19- March 19, 2020
Therefore you are experiencing the coming of Jesus Christ
Use wisdom and follow Me as I Am being lead By The Holy Spirit to save our nation world and universe alike in Jesus Name Amen!
Forgiveness for our universal ignorance of who we are as mankind!
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States
Vice Presidential Elect-Kanye West

Oct. 30, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
Presidential Address
Attention Wisconsin & America Alike
Especially Local Christian Leaders & Assemblies
Judgement to those who don’t accept God’s Messenger to liberate His People
Warning ⚠️ to The Church ⛪️
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States 🇺🇸
VP CANDIDATE KANYE WEST
IN JESUS NAME NAME AMEN 🙏
VIDEO RELEASE TONIGHT ALL SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS

Nov. 2, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
Presidential Address
Apocalyptic Potentials - Preparedness for Kingdom Citizens
The necessity of Believers in Christ to United and Trained to protect each other
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States VP CANDIDATE KANYE WEST
IF YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST YOU MUST VOTE FOR Sammy Belton TRUST GOD!
Shalom

Nov. 3, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
Presidential Address
Polygyny-Kingdom Marriage
Purification of Our Family Lifestyle
Benefits for our children men and women to break the cycle of disfunction
Restoring our African Edenic Kingdom Lifestyle
Importance of Unity Upon Armageddon
Planning Our Return Back to Africa- Dual Citizenship
Donate to cash app $Pastorkash100
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President ofThe United States 🇺🇸 VP CANDIDATE KANYE WEST
Shalom

Belton did not appear to be a registered write-in in any state, so no votes were reported.

Election history:
2020 - US President (Birthday Party) - defeated

Other occupations: musical artist, producer, fashion design, Fatburger restaurants, philanthropist, actor

Notes:
West has been teasing a run for President in 2024.