Nobody For President



Who should you vote for in the next election? What about Nobody? After all, Nobody is clearly the best candidate. Nobody cares. Nobody keeps his election promises. Nobody listens to your concerns. Nobody tells the truth. Nobody will lower your taxes. Nobody will defend your rights. Nobody has all the answers. Nobody should have that much power. Nobody makes apple pie better than Mom, and Nobody will love you when you're down and out. The joke of electing "Nobody" for President is an old one. It dates back at least to 1940, as seen by this political cartoon from that year featuring a protester waving a "Nobody For President" sign. However, it was during the counterculture of the 1960s that the joke gained broader appeal. In 1964 the humor columnist Arthur Hoppe launched a satirical campaign to elect Nobody for President, pretending in a series of columns to be working at the Nobody for President campaign office. A Nobody for President campaign achieved greater prominence in 1976 when political activists Wavy Gravy and Curtis Sprangler took up Nobody's cause. Their promotion of Nobody evolved over the course of 1976 and culminated in October with a cross-country tour to promote him. Spangler and Wavy Gravy repeated the Nobody for President campaign in 1980 and 1984. Their campaign continues at nobodyforpresident.org, where they point out that the campaign has a serious side by promoting the idea that Nobody (or "None of the Above") should be included as an option on all ballots so that voters wouldn't be forced to choose between the lesser of two evils.