Showing posts with label Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands. Show all posts

Friday, May 27, 2011

Bezango: Running For Elected Office the Absurd Way


From Olympia Power & Light, December 30 2009-January 12, 2010.

One reader wrote in, a bit confused. His memory mixed up Greene's 1972 Republican campaign with a later absurdist run for the same office, when the 1976 OWL (Out With Logic, On With Lunacy) Party ran Don "Earthquake" Ober (1922-1979) for Commissioner of Public Lands. A rather easy mistake to make in a state that draws so many colorful characters to the ballot.

The OWL Party didn't exist in 1968. No. Greene ran, hilariously, as a Republican. The fact he went under the radar and won the Republican primary is actually more subversive than running as a third party candidate.



Above: Greene's official entry as a Republican candidate for Commissioner of Public Lands, from the 1968 Official Voters Pamphlet for Washington State.