Stephen Albert McCormick, March 9, 1951 (Alameda County, Calif.) -
VP candidate for KIS Party (2012)
Running mate with nominee: Richard Skeen McCormick (1946-2017)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Dick McCormick of Seattle's Capitol Hill filed with the FEC on Feb. 2, 2011 under the banner of the KIS [Keep It Simple] Party which was formed in 2010. His brother Steve, a resident of Tennessee, was his running-mate. The nominating convention was held in Volunteer Park with music by the Dudley Manlove Quartet.
The fact these two nominees were brothers was not unusual in Electoral politics. Other brother tickets have included: Larry Brant Sargeant/Perry David Sargeant - American Freedom Party (1976), Lowell Jackson Fellure/James Monroe Fellure - Independent (2000), Diddley Squat V/Bupkes - Hamster Party (2004), Keith Russell Judd/Monty Wayne Judd - Nonpartisan (2008), Randal Gene Trackwell/Byron Lee Trackwell - Bullmoose Progressive Party (2008), Theodore Cleaver/Wallace Cleaver - Give America the Business Party (2008), Diddley Squat/Squit Squat - Hamster Party (2012), Robert John Burck/Kenneth Robert Burck Jr. - Tea Party (2012)
Generally speaking, his platform was a balance of social liberalism, fiscal conservatism (he was a recently retired investment advisor), while at the same reducing the size and role of government. A veteran of the 1960s anti-war movement, he opposed U.S. military involvement in the Mideast. He voted for Obama in 2008 but felt the President had not done enough to end what had become a perpetual, permanent war that had been created by the Bush/Cheney administration.
McCormick was one of the lesser-known candidates who ran for the nomination of the Reform Party in 2012, but his failure to attain that goal did not prevent him from continuing to run in the KIS Party.
He enjoyed performing some light-hearted stunts in his campaign. In one such event he simulated blowing up 14 reams of paper representing the Tax Code using three sticks of dynamite. In another gimmick he had a lifesized cutout of President Lincoln at a podium providing an endorsement to the McCormick candidacy. I guess no one told him that the reincarnation of Lincoln was also running for President in 2012 as part of, and I am not kidding here, the Mythical Majestic Midgardian Party with the reincarnation of George B. McClellan as his running-mate.
There was even a campaign song, "Dickie Mac" by Joel Schwartz. In spite of the entertainment, McCormick's electioneering was essentially serious although it is difficult to ascertain if his impact on the election went beyond his Seattle neighborhood.
McCormick/McCormick were registered write-ins in Washington State, where numbers of votes for that category were not individually reported.
Election history: none
Other occupations: ?
Notes:
Washington State Trivia Alert!!!
Dick McCormick died Aug. 3, 2017.
