When George Washington rallied thousands of soldiers together, he dreamed of building a country of true freedom. He sought independence from Great Britain and for citizens to seek their rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But never would America’s Founding Fathers dream of their people choosing a leader solely based off of a joke from the internet.
With the 2016 presidential election coming closer each day, voters across the country are watching and deciding on who could possibly fit best to run America from a number of candidate choices. But in late-July 2015, a strange phenomenon occurred when an independent candidate named “Deez Nuts” began to appear prominently in the polls, earning up to 9 percent of the popular vote in North Carolina.
The phrase blossomed from social media outlets in early 2015, and continued to explode with popularity once voters saw the name and placed their votes. According to Rolling Stone, “Deez Nuts” is actually a 15 year old boy from Iowa named Brady C. Olson, who filed a statement for candidacy as a joke as well as in protest of other candidates such as Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, and Jeb Bush.
“People are tired of having a two party system, which isn’t a very good match-making system,” said Michael Lacario, sophomore Ecology major. “They don’t like either candidate and [the candidates are]not talking about the real issues people care about.”
Oddly enough, “Deez Nuts” is by no means the only strange candidate of this year’s elections. Along with “Deez Nuts” is democratic candidate Limberbutt McCubbins—a cat from Louisville, Kentucky—according to CBS News. Both may be unable to be actually elected, but can still be voted for. Other strange candidates also include Vermin Supreme, a strange man who is commonly seen wearing a boot on his head and has been running for president since 2004. According to CNN, Supreme has made a number of wild claims for his presidency, such as promising every American a pony upon his election, requiring regulation of mandatory tooth brushing and preparation of the zombie apocalypse, and starting full funding of time travel research.
“I think there’s maybe two reasons [why people voted for Deez Nuts]: One, the people responding to the poll didn’t know that much about the candidates and so they were willing to vote for someone who is a joke name,” said Dr. Frank Orlando, Political Science Instructor. “Or they knew the candidates, they were disaffected, they didn’t like the candidates, and because of that they kind of wanted to stick it to the politicians running.”
While “Deez Nuts” lives as both a form of protest and a joke that unexpectedly caught on throughout the country, whether that joke is harmless or actually affects the politics of America’s elections by a large degree isn’t certain and up for debate among voters across the states.
“People need to really focus on who they’re going to vote for because it’s going to be whoever the next president of the United States is going to be,” said Emily Sheputis, senior Biology major. “Do your research, see who you really want to vote for and go out there and vote.”
Still, others believe the jokes and protests are effective, leading to some interesting events in the serious world of American politics.
“I think a vote for ‘Deez Nuts’ is a vote for change in our political system,” said Lacario. “We’re tired of elections being a popularity contest and who garners the most advertising money.”
