Opus the Penguin, June 26, 1981 (Falkland Islands) -
VP candidate for National Radical Meadow Party (aka Meadow Party) (1984, 1988, 2016, 2020)
Running mate with nominee: Bill the Cat (b. 1982)
Popular vote (1984, 1988, 2016, 2020): ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote (1984, 1988, 2016, 2020): 0/538
The campaign (1984):
Bill the Cat and Opus the Penguin were among the cast of characters in Berkeley Breathed's popular comic strip Bloom County. Bill's quest for the Presidency was complicated by the storyline that he been pulled into the Rajneesh (Osho) cult in Antelope, Oregon. Another small glitch in the electioneering was that Bill the Cat apparently died at some point, not that anyone would notice since his only dialogue consisted of "Aaack!" and close variations.
In the Mar. 14, 1983 strip, the names of Mister Spock and John Glenn were put into nomination, but rejected. Still without a Presidential nominee by the Apr. 27 strip, the Party nominated Opus for VP in his absence while he was out buying bags of Cheetos.
For newspaper readers the most effective way to follow the campaign was reading the strip itself or perusing the Letters to the Editor page. It really was a grassroots effort, which makes sense for a political party with the word "Meadow" in the name. Mostly ignored by the press even in fluff articles, it wasn't until after Election Day when Bill the Cat and Opus received a substantial number of write-in votes that journalists took real notice.
The campaign (1988):
Breathed, who had been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1987, brought back the Bill/Opus ticket in 1988. In the May 15, 1988 Sunday strip, Bloom County presented a television advertisement for Bill's campaign:
Finally. A candidate every American can call their own. He's been a handicapped unionist minority farmer. He's been a Right wing, pro-choice, born again Southern elderly protectionist pacifist. He's been a redneck Northern liberal ethnic pro-life Jewish fixed-income no-nukes gun nut. And he's been a woman named Frieda. Bill the Cat for President. He's been one of us.
The campaign (2016 and 2020)
Bill and Opus' national campaign was active in 2016 and continues into 2020, making Opus one the rare third party VP to run four times! The comic strip Bloom County has long since passed, and newspapers themselves are rapidly going extinct so we are now seeing this duo in an online venue. It is difficult to ascertain how much of this electioneering is promoted by Breathed himself vs. that of devoted fans who keep the flame alive. We'll stay tuned.
Election history: none
Other occupations: legal secretary, musician, author
Notes:
Washington State trivia: Breathed resided for several years on Vashon Island.
Aside from the small detail that Opus is a fictitious character, his birth as a non-US citizen on the
Falkland Islands would disqualify from being elected VP.
