You Must Be Joking: A Comic in the White House?

"You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can only make a monkey out of the voters every four years! " --comedian Pat Paulsen

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In 1968, the Smothers Brothers approached comedian Pat Paulsen with the idea of running for President.

His first run for the Presidency presaged the election of B-movie actor Ronald Reagan ("Bedtime for Bonzo") to the White House 13 years later, but came about one year after Reagan was elected Governor of California.

His campaign slogan: "I've upped my standards, now, up yours!"



In addition to the '68 campaign (won by Richard Nixon), he ran in 1972 (Nixon), 1980 (Ronald Reagan), 1988 (George H.W. Bush), 1992 and 1996 (both Bill Clinton). He died in 1997 at the age of 69.

While his campaign was grounded in comedy, he won votes each time and his commentary sounded as "serious" as others who have run for office:

* "Will I obliterate national debt? Sure, why not?"

* "We have nothing to fear but fear itself ,,, and, of course, the boogieman."

* "I will not claim I will solve all the world's problems by myself. If I did, I'd have to run as a Republican or a Democrat."

* "Yeah, I'm running for the White House again. Well, it's not a run, really; it's sort of a brisk walk."

* "Having a comic in the White House will assure stability in foreign relations. The world will continue to respond to foreign initiatives by saying, 'You must be joking.' "

We often look at politics and wonder if they're joking. At least with comedians you know right off the bat. Jon Stewart in 2020?

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To see more, check out the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour Pat Paulsen for President Special on my companion website: http://lollounge.tumblr.com.