Wallace Cleaver

 

Wallace Cleaver, ca1945 -

VP candidate for Give America the Business Party (2008)

Running mate with nominee: Theodore Cleaver (b. ca1948)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In five-minute Youtube entitled The Beaver for President 2008 (slightly revised on 7/21/08), a user named snicky58 presented the Presidential campaign of Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver running under the banner of Give America the Business Party.

Cleaver is, of course, the fictitious title character of the hit family-oriented television series Leave it to Beaver which aired from 1957-1963. The role of Beaver was played by child actor Jerry Mathers. Some of us Boomers remember it well when it originally aired, but the program has lived on in syndication.

The video is in the form of an interview, in which candidate Cleaver says, among other things--

-He does not like Sam Donaldson of ABC News.
-Would push legislation to not force boys to wear aprons while fingerpainting in class.
-Does not have a problem with Gay marriage.

The video advertised a bumper sticker that proclaimed: "The Beaver for President: He's Not as Dumb as Dubya."

The presentation ends with Beaver's running-mate revealed as his older brother Wallace "Wally" Cleaver, who was played by actor Tony Dow in the classic series. Wally was older enough to be sort of a half-parent and experienced voice, as well as translator/communicator between his little brother and their parents, Ward and June. Wally's regular warning to Beaver of "When Dad finds out he's gonna clobber you," offers a hint there was some form of abusive physical punishment in the Cleaver household the viewer never sees and perhaps the family was far more dysfunctional than we imagined.

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), Keith Russell Judd/Monty Wayne Judd - Nonpartisan (2008), and Randal Gene Trackwell/Byron Lee Trackwell - Bullmoose Progressive Party (2008).

Although Beaver and Wally were technically old enough to serve in office, the fact they were still encapsulated in the television pixel bodies of juveniles would have probably required some sort of court ruling in the event of their victory. In the canon, sequels had been produced with the adult versions of the characters, but in this 2008 campaign the original incarnations were the ones being electioneered. In the sequels, Wally becomes an attorney.

Beaver and Wally were both residents of whatever state their town of Mayfield was in, which posed another Constitutional problem. Oh, right, they were also fictitious characters, another small legality to consider.

The Cleaver/Cleaver ticket did not appear on any ballots, nor were they registered as write-ins, and hence no votes were reported.

Election history: none.

Other occupations: newspaper boy, soda jerk, ice cream vendor, attorney

Notes:
Beaver Cleaver is not related to Eldridge Cleaver.
In the Desperate Hours, Humphrey Bogart's character was killed in a hail of police bullets on the same front yard set that later became the Cleaver house.

Byron Lee Trackwell

 

                                                                 Randal Trackwell 2009

Byron Lee Trackwell, September 16, 1951 (Topeka, Kan.) -

VP candidate for Bullmoose Progressive Party (2008)

Running mate with nominee: Randal Gene Trackwell (1946-2014)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
 
The campaign:

Randal Trackwell of Topeka, Kan. ran for President in 2004, 2008, and 2012. Something of a local perennial candidate, he had also run for Mayor at least seven times. A Vietnam combat vet with a degree in criminal justice, Trackwell worked as a private investigator, custodian, factory line worker, electrical technician and cab driver.

Although I could not locate a running-mate for 2004 or 2012, in 2008 Randal's VP was his younger brother, Byron who was also an official resident of Topeka. Both of them filed with the FEC late in the campaign season, Oct. 10, 2008.

Byron had made the news briefly in Feb. 2004 when he initiated a lawsuit against the US government on the grounds President Bush violated at least four articles of the Constitution in the act of invading Iraq in 2003. He told a reporter, "I am really enjoying it - being involved with our government's politics and constitution, learning the court procedures. I'm enjoying the fight."

Other brother Presidential tickets in the past include Larry Brant Sargeant/Perry David Sargeant - American Freedom Party (1976), Lowell Jackson Fellure/James Monroe Fellure - Independent (2000), Keith Russell Judd/Monty Wayne Judd - Nonpartisan (2008).

Randal Trackwell's 2008 platform had 15 points--

1.  Full medical and dental coverage for all U.S. children. Full medical for all U.S. adults.
2.  Use our scientific technology to remove all manmade carcinogens from enviorment [sic], air-water-food chain.
3.  Strictly enforce anti-trust and monopoly laws. Update if necessary.
4.  Direct government and corporate mobility, to provide for the American people, an eletric [sic] car for short trip city driving. The "Model       E," 5O mile range at a cost of $2000 or less, A.S.A.P.
5.  No foreign ownership of U.S. farmland, rangeland, mining or manufacturing.  
6.  Cancel N.A.F.T.A. & G.A.T.T. Rebuild our factory systems ruined by trade agreements.
7.  Severely regulate or remove corporate power from farming. In particular the "food factory" concept in livestock production. It's cruel,         nasty and disrespects animals. It leads to disease in livestock and humans.
8.  Organize "The President's Farmers Market" in all cities.
9.  Stop foreign aid until our national debt is under control.
10. Repeal marijuana prohibition. Also use for paper  production.
11. Stop all emigration until our unemployment & homeless problems are solved. Strictly enforce emigration laws.
12. Secure United States & Mexico border.
13. Direct some defence spending to provide immediate aid to famine victims anywhere in the world.
14. Remove U.S. forces from Iraq & Afghanistan.
15. Plant trees, clean up America's rivers. Plan & build new rail-roads for people & freight. Repair & rebuild U.S. intra-structures.

The Trackwells did not appear on any ballots or were registered write-ins. The fact they were both residents of the same state would have posed a problem with the Constitution in the event of their victory.

Election history: none

Other occupations: Qatar Petroleum operations engineer, actor

Notes:
Uncredited actor playing a soldier in the film Gardens of Stone (1987). According to the IMDb, Byron is also known as "Buzz."

Monty Wayne Judd

 

Below, Keith Judd in the center, 1989

Monty Wayne Judd, October 15, 1960 (Albuquerque, NM) -

VP candidate for Nonpartisan (aka Green Party of the United States aka Independent Democrat) (2008)

Running mate with nominee: Keith Russell Judd (b. 1958)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Keith Judd, called a gifted musician by some, was not so gifted as a criminal as evidenced by his court records and convictions. By 2008 he had become a perennial candidate having run for President since 1996.

In 1999 he was sentenced to over 17 years for extortion via mail and in 2008 was a prison inmate in Beaumont, Tex.  Early in the year Judd actually made the ballot for the Democratic Party primary in Idaho. "We got conned," admitted Idaho Sec. of State Ben Ysura. With no petition signatures required, Judd was able to pay the $1000 fee. Two of the phone numbers on his filing form turned out to be a newspaper in Beaumont, and the IRS helpline. On the Voice for Inmates website, Judd declared: I AM ON THE MAY 27, 2008 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION
in IDAHO, ALL CONVICTED FELONS CAN VOTE!!

Judd continued his quest for the White House with his younger brother Monty, of Albuquerque, NM, as his running-mate. Other brother Presidential tickets in the past include Larry Brant Sargeant/Perry David Sargeant - American Freedom Party (1976), and Lowell Jackson Fellure/James Monroe Fellure - Independent (2000).

He filed with the FEC in Feb. 2005 as a "Non-Party candidate", refiled in Aug. 2007 as a Democrat, and refiled yet again in Feb. 2008 under the Green Party.

Judd's entries into the Votesmart database are intriguing, and gave journalists the opportunity to fact check his claims, some of which were rather dubious. Here are some of the entries I found most interesting--

Full Name:
Keith 'Mtr. President, Dark Priest, W.D., Rusy...' Russell Judd

Religion:
Rastafarian-Christian

Education
University of California
Attended, Political Science, John F. Kennedy School of Politics, Harvard University, 1998
Attended, Business/Music/Dance/Speech Communications, University of New Mexico, 1992, Grade Point Average of 3.4
University of California Los Angeles, 1972-1978
Attended, Bethany Nazarene College, Oklahoma, 1976

Professional Experience
Agent/Individual Contractor, New York Society of Reproductive Medicine
Band Leader, United States Air Force
Educator, Piano/Music, FCC Low, Education/Recreation Department, Beaumont, Texas, 2006-2007
Sound Engineer, Conavan East Nite Club, 1985-1998
Recording Musician/Writer/Producer, Nadine's Music, Hollywood, California, 1968-1998
Bass Player, Norman Frasier Band, 1995
Sales, Grandma's Music & Sound, 1984-1989
Recording Consultant/Research and Development, Nadine's Music, 1982-1983
Quality Assurance, Inspector, General Electric Aircraft Engine Group, 1978-1982

Religious, Civic, and other Memberships
Activist, Lamesa Neighborhood Association, 1972-present
Activist, Trumble Neighborhood Association, 1972-present
Organizer, Homeless Peoples Voting Rights Association, National, 1968-present
Founder, World Peace Through Musical Communications Skills, 1963-present
Member, American Civil Liberties Union, 1992-2007
Member, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, 1999-2007
Member, National Rifle Association, 1972-2007
Volunteer/Honorary Member, Albuquerque Police Officer's Association, 1997-1998
Member, Musicians-Entertainment Union Los Angeles, 1982-1998
Founder, Rehabilitation of Homeless Association, 1997-1998
Promoter, Musicians Union, 1982-1983
Member, Federation of Super Heroes, 1976-1982
Member, Machinist Union, 1980-1982
Bass Player, Albuquerque Youth Symphony, 1970-1976

Favorite President and Why:
Richard Nixon: He got us out of Vietnam, and began world peace with China and the Soviets

Hobbies or Special Talents:
I Bowled a Sanctioned 300 Perfect Game, and Tournaments. ESP, Telling the Future

Name one thing you would most like to do before you die:
I would like to record another album and go on tour

Personal Hero and Why:
My father, Homer T. Judd. He designed the first Atomic Bomb and worked for the Atomic Energy Commissions 30 years

Person Most Want to Meet (Dead or Alive):
Mozart. He was cool

Priority Issues:
Judicial Accountability Commission and U.S. Department of Justice Accountability Commission. U.S. Treasury Accountability Commission; Federal Reserve Bank System Accountability Commission. Reinvent the Public School System with ties to Industries, Community Job-Placement and Higher Education

Judd was a registered write-in, mostly with Monty as VP, in at least eight states: Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia. Since some states basically ignored reporting write-ins, it is difficult to guess how many votes they received. In Minnesota, Montana, and Utah Judd identified himself as a member of the Green Party. In Washington Judd was a write-in candidate as a Democrat.

We will be revisiting Keith Judd later in the 2012 campaign when he made national news.

Election history: none

Other occupations: sound and light man for Revolver (Keith Judd's rock band)

Notes:
Custom car enthusiast.

James Monroe Fellure

James Monroe Fellure, August 29, 1942 (Salt Rock, W. Va.) -

VP candidate for Independent (2000)

Running mate with nominee: Lowell Jackson Fellure (b. 1931)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Jack Fellure of Hurricane, W. Va. filed with the State of Kansas as a write-in candidate in 2000 for his fourth attempt at the White House. His running-mate was his younger brother Jim Fellure of Bagdad, Fla.

This was not the first instance of brothers sharing a Presidential ticket-- Larry Brant Sargeant had his brother Perry David Sargeant as the VP for the American Freedom Party (1976).

Jim Fellure, a Baptist preacher and anti-pornography activist, once made the news when had to pay an out of court settlement in 1991 and make a public apology to an attorney who represented an X-rated video store. Fellure had been sued for libel when he called the barrister a "crooked lawyer" in the church newsletter.

By the year 2000 Jack Fellure had already become known as a perennial candidate. It appears he entered electoral politics after he retired as an engineer. He had run for President in the Republican primaries since 1988 describing himself as "a total conservative with the Bible as my platform." The King James version to be precise. In 2000 he filed with the FEC as a Republican but did not actually run in the primaries.

Although Fellure was a write-in for President on sporadic ballots in the past, so far as I can ascertain 2000 was the first time he was still in the game in the general election past the primaries with a clearly stated running-mate.

Some of his quotes and views recorded up to the time of the 2000 election:

He was anti-house husband, anti-abortion, pro-capital punishment, for outlawing the Communist Party, for outlawing homosexuality, supported balancing the budget, eliminate gun control, men should have short hair, opposed Rock music, Bush and Clinton have pushed a Marxist-Satanic New World Order agenda.

"We are losing a nation. The nation we knew was based on Christian principles that we are losing faster and faster all the time."

"I believe absolutely in the separation of church and state. I believe in freedom of religion. I merely believe this country must be guided by the Christian principles that made it great."

"We're being destroyed by atheists, Marxists, liberals, queers, liars, draft-dodgers, flag-burners, dope addicts, sex perverts, and anti-Christians."

In 1990 Jack Fellure said, "Sure, I don't have much chance in 1992, but intend to keep running the rest of my life or until I win. I figure I have six Presidential campaigns in me." Fellure's 2020 campaign will be his 9th attempt.

No votes were reported for the Fellure/Fellure ticket in 2000.

Jack Fellure went on to be the Prohibition Party nominee for President in 2012 and we'll catch up with him then.

Election history: none

Other occupations: construction worker, minister, Bible salesman, author, publisher

Notes:
In researching the history of the Fellure brothers I discovered it is possible I am remote relative by
 marriage to them dating back in the colonial era.

Perry David Sargeant

 The Sargeant brothers, Perry (above) and Larry (below)

Perry David Sargeant, June 17, 1929 (Spokane, Wash.) - October 22, 2016 (Elko, Nev.)

VP candidate for American Freedom Party (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Larry Brant Sargeant (b 1931)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Larry Brant Sargeant was a heavy equipment operator in Yerington, Nev. Apparently a former member of the LDS Church, he started his own religion called House of Israel around 1962 and 15 years later he said that was also the time he formed the American Freedom Party. He told reporters he had made an attempt to run for President in the 1972 election but withdrew.

He began his second presidential campaign in 1975. A few quotations in the early stages of his effort included parts of his Party platform as well as comments regarding President Ford, the only person ever to have ascended to that office through appointment upon the twin resignations in disgrace of Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon rather than being elected:

With an unshakeable faith in the Almighty God, we can show our fellow Americans that government of the people, by the people, and for the people must begin at home-- not in Washington, D.C.

The people of this nation don't have a President at all (all you have is a bird perched under the people's roof, claiming squatters rights).

Under the oath and covenant of the Constitution of the United States of America, the right to select a president and vice-president shall now and forever remain with the people. No man may be put upon them by force or compulsory means. When Richard M. Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford became the president, his first duty should have been to the people to have an open and immediate election for president and vice-president. The Supreme Court failed in their responsibility to act on this violations of the peoples' rights.

I am calling for an immediate and open election for president and vice-president of this nation of the people, by the people and for the people.

Sargeant also called for a flat 10% income tax on wages, drop all business and corporate tax, raise minimum wage to $10 an hour (in 1976 I was working for $1.90 an hour so 10 bucks an hour seemed huge) introduce free medical care, have states take over welfare by starting welfare work farms, and invite other nations to become a US territory simply by ratifying the US Constitution with the eventual possibility of statehood.

He described himself as a servant of the Lord and friend of labor unions. One newspaper reported "Sargeant stated he would do away with many of the federal agencies and establish state marshalls to control the country."

Sargeant picked his brother, Perry David Sargeant of Elko, Nev., as his running mate. Unlike his younger brother, Perry remained active with the LDS Church.

On April 26, 1976, Larry stated that while in Carson City he was "stripped of his Holy Priesthood garments and placed in prison garbs and thrown into a drunk tank, without being charged for a crime or allowed to post bail." He later filed suit for $200 billion dollars.

The Sargeant/Sargeant ticket was a write-in project and probably an uncertified one at that. The fact the brothers were residents of the same state would probably have caused a Constitutional crisis had they been elected.

Larry Brant Sargeant ran for President again in 1980, 1988, and 1992 (and possibly in other years) under his American Freedom Party banner, apparently without a running mate. He had already started on his second career as a vandal who attacked Mormon statuary with knives, hammers, and axes-- crimes for which he eventually did some hard time. It seems he was, according to him, performing God's will. He was also engaged in a third career of filing frequent lawsuits that many viewed as frivolous. He eventually moved to the Colville, Wash. area.

Election history: none

Other occupations: berry picker, logging business, insurance salesman, cattle ranch worker, barb-wire fence business

Buried: Burns Memorial Garden (Elko, Nev.)

Notes:
Perry was raised in Alberta, Elmerton Wash., Portland Or., and Newport Or.
Larry claimed Thomas Jefferson was his "fourth great grandfather" which if true means I am related
 to Perry David Sargeant as we share an immigrant ancestor, Christopher Branch, with our 3rd
 President.
Nice to finally see a fellow Spokane native on the third party Vice-Presidential roster.