Vermin Supreme
Candidate for the Office of President of the United States
Party: Republican
Website: http://www.zerohits.com/vermin/
Vermin Supreme's Road to the White House
Vermin ‘Love’ Supreme does not sound like a conventional name, especially a name that would be running for President of the United States of America, but one man, with that exact name wearing strikingly original costumes, is challenging citizens and politicians on the streets of the free world through a bullhorn. Vermin Supreme drops his legal middle name ‘love’ around election time but he still expresses the same message he has been for his 20 years of campaigning throughout the United States.
Vermin Supreme is a skeptical man and his whole message deals with our government institutions and his point is to show citizens how hard it is to establish oneself as a “fringe” candidate throughout the United States while also mocking our government’s social institutions. Apart from his general philosophy, on of his biggest goals is to demonstrate the political inequalities throughout a presidential race, especially for a minor candidate.
“Part of being me is embracing the hypocrisies, the unconventionalities and the contradictions,” Supreme says. “I can easily be for two things at any given time. You know I’m promoting the mandatory tooth brushing law and here I am also promoting the idea that it is going too far.”
Vermin Supreme’s political agenda started right after he had graduated high school and moved to Baltimore, MD. Working at a nightclub named Vermin Supremes Galaxy Lounge, he received many compliments from others about his great interactions with people while making them laugh and his skills at “glad-handing,” which is simply a very friendly handshake. After these suggestions, Supreme stated that he would run for Mayor of Baltimore, and his twenty plus year of politics sprang to life.
His first run for presidency began in 1992 where his candidacy slogan was “Mayor of the Eastern Seaboard.” In 1996, he ran for “Mayor of the lower 48,” and in 2000, “ he ran for “Emperor of the New Millenium,” which he still claims to be running as for the 2008 election. Supreme also refers to himself as the “Friendly Fascist.”
One of Supremes most popular and striking outfits is a suit of armor with a rubber boot on his head. This boot “stands for all that is good in America.”
Supreme is a non-partisan candidate, but he is running with the Republican Party because there are so many interesting aspects and the Republican Party is so close.
Supreme reserves the right to say one thing and then disagree with it the next. He thinks that his true personality intertwined too much with his true message in the media and political world, will detract from his campaign. His “Mandatory tooth brushing law” is a part of his campaign that always leaves people interested and asking questions, which is exactly what his campaign is about. The pamphlets Supreme hands out shows how not cleaning your teeth will do the biggest harm in life and that it must be made mandatory through law. This is a political joke, which refers to the idiosyncrasies of government and social laws.
Supreme’s childhood friend, Jimmy Casey recalls a few memories that made Supreme into the person he is today. He always wore funny outfits and was always eccentric, which made people pay attention because he always had something different to say and people would pay attention, Casey says.
Casey has been a friend for almost thirty years, saying that Supreme has always been the same person, wearing original, bright and “unconventional” clothing, along with his jokes. Casey says that he has always been an advocate for his and other people’s rights.
“Vermin is just making joke about the process,” Casey says. “His statement is you have t o be rich, you have to have the money, its just the average person doesn’t really have much choice in voting.”
Saint Michael’s College Political Science Professor , Bill Grover understands the difficulties for fringe candidates and, “Everything about politics at the national presidential level since around 1981, has been about controlling the message and scripting their message,” Saint Michael’s College Political Science Professor, Bill Grover says.
He says that someone like Vermin Supreme is the exact person that will get the attention of media and other people around who are listening. The outfits and bullhorn will definitely get someone noticed, but others will more likely listen to someone with an organized campaign and someone with a specific message, Grover says.
This year Vermin Supreme says he tackling his campaigning with goals of actually getting a decent amount of votes in by making a few phone calls and possibly going door-to-door. But Supreme says the number of votes does not account for his success, it’s the fact that he will be on every ballot, in every voting booth, in every town in New Hampshire and that is what is most important.