Morris the Cat II

Morris the Cat II, ca1978 (Massachusetts) - 1997.

VP candidate for Independent (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Lyle Morris Schlieder (b. 1945)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Lyle Morris Schlieder of Lakewood, Calif. simply thought "Why not me?" while stuck in a traffic jam and decided to run for President and file with the FEC. At the time he was a purchasing agent for the City of Anaheim.

With a slogan of "Lyle has Style," he had this to say in Sept. 1987 when asked if he was seriously running: "As serious as any of the other candidates I've seen. They're probably the reason I decided to run. I've been studying Presidents since Eisenhower, and haven't yet seen anybody do a job that's half worthwhile. America's been going downhill for 20 years and we've sat back and let it happen. It's sad out there. It's sad what we have for government."

Among Schlieder's platform issues:

--A "Western Pentagon" at Lake Tahoe.
--Vehicles that use tofu as fuel.
--Scuffed baseballs.
--"Turbo shredders" to handle government bureaucratic paperwork.
--Sending U.S. garbage to Vietnam.
--Sending Robert Bork to the Contras in Nicaragua.
--Appointing his wife Jan to a newly created Cabinet post, Sec. of Department Stores.

On his qualifications, the candidate said: "I'm just an average guy who wants to do an average job for his country ... I barely made it out of high school. In fact, my life was a blur until I was 35."

Schlieder expressed a desire to have Morris the Cat as his running-mate (perhaps because Schlieder's middle name is "Morris"?) The interviewer falsely informed him Morris was dead. Well, the original Morris was dead, that much was true, but the second Morris was not only alive and well, he was running for President too!

The original Morris died in 1978 and the second Morris was selected from an animal shelter in Massachusetts and began his advertising career in 1979.

In fact 1988 was the first of Morris the Cat's forays into politics. He had his own running-mate-- Sonny the Dog. So Morris the Cat was a Presidential candidate on one team and a VP on another. It is a safe bet the Schlieder ticket would not be officially sanctioned by 9-Lives cat food, Morris the Cat's official sponsor.

Morris II later ran for President in 1992 as well. He retired in 1995. Morris III worked for 9-Lives from 1995-2000. Morris IV started his career in 2000.

Election history:
1988 - US President (Independent) - defeated
1992 - US President (Independent) - defeated

Other occupations: cat, commercial spokesfeline

Buried: ?

Notes:
Washington State trivia alert!!! Schlieder was born in The Evergreen State Sept. 9, 1945!

Sonny the Dog

Sonny the Dog

VP candidate for Finicky Party (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Morris the Cat II (ca1978-1997)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

I finally found the 1988 running-mate with Morris the Cat. It was Sonny the Dog. It took some digging (heh-heh, get it?). Yup I got the scoop on this one (bwhahahaha! [slaps his knee])

9-Lives cat food launched a commercial promotional campaign in Aug. 1987 using the Presidential race as a vehicle, nominating their orange tabby spokesfeline, Morris the Cat. Running as an independent (what would you expect? Morris was a cat after all) Morris enjoyed a higher national name recognition than several of the major party candidates early in the campaign season. The Leo Burnett Company handled the public relations.

The 1988 nominee was actually the second Morris the Cat. The original Morris died in July 1978 in his upper teens. Both cats were found in rescue shelters and in addition to being an advertising mascot, the popular Morris was also used to promote pet responsibility and raised money at charitable events for animal adoption agencies. 

Eleanor Mondale, the daughter of 1984 Democratic Presidential nominee former VP Walter Mondale, was the spokesperson for Morris' first press conference. Seriously. You have to smile at this no matter what your place is on the political spectrum when you read her introduction: "May I introduce a candidate with the quiet demeanor of a Coolidge, the animal magnetism of a Kennedy, and with the honesty of a Lincoln, a candidate who may shed but will never shred, a candidate who stands four square behind the values of life, liberty and the pursuit of din-din."

There was a brief contest sponsored by 9-Lives in March 1988 to see if another cat could be the running mate with Morris, but that apparently did not get too far in terms of finding a suitable candidate. In April 1988 at an event in San Diego's US Grant Hotel called the Fur Ball, the Vice-Presidential nomination could be acquired when the vote was quite frankly bought with dollars donated to the San Diego Humane Society. You have to admire the total transparency here-- unlike some major and even minor parties we could name-- that money can quite frankly buy a nomination. The candidates were Sonny the Toyota-driving Dog, Tony the Llama (twice a candidate for Mayor of Ramona, Calif.), Spuds MacKenzie, Choplifter, Sandy the SPCA Dog, and KC the SPCA Cat. In an upset, Sonny supporters out-donated the odds-on-favorite Tony supporters, $465 to $181.

Sonny was used as a mascot for Toyota dealers in the San Diego area in the late 1980s. In local television ads he was frequently shown driving a pickup truck with a human passenger.

9-Lives withdrew Morris from the Presidential race in September. One spokesman explained why shortly after the election, "We thought Morris might win."

1988 would not be the last hurrah for Morris the Cat in politics. He ran again in 1992 and beyond.

Election history: none

Other occupations: dog

Buried: ?

Notes:
Not the first time a canine was a VP nominee, but it is the first time a cat and dog were on the same
 ticket.
By a strange coincidence another Sonny in California, Sonny Bono, was elected the Mayor of Palm
 Springs at the same time Sonny the Dog won the VP nomination.