With the only hurdle to entry in the New Hampshire presidential primary being a $1,000 filing fee, all sorts of fringe candidates are on the ballot as options for voters next month.
One of them is Rockport resident Vermin Supreme.
Supreme - yes, that is his real name — calls himself a performance artist and has run for office several times, including mayoral races in cities out of state.
But he lists himself as being from Rockport, where he voted in the 2010 state elections, town officials confirmed. The 62-year-old Edmunds Lane resident also garnered 42 votes in New Hampshire's Republican primary in 2008, and plans to run in the Democratic primary this year.
Supreme appears in public with a boot on his head at most events, advocates giving a pony to every American, and is making the case for a mandatory tooth-brushing law.
"A country's future depends on its ability to bite back," Supreme said in an interview with the Associated Press.
While many of his positions are facetious — Supreme often describes himself as a tyrant with a heart — Supreme often advocates sincerely for organ donation, taking time at campaign appearances to show off the scar from his donation of a kidney to his mother.
Earnestness outweighed the absurd for most of a two-hour forum at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. And Supreme was hardly alone.
Most of the 10 Republicans and seven Democrats said they were ordinary people motivated by the same issues that have dominated the televised debates featuring the major candidates — from the economy and the national debt to energy and foreign policy.
"We're called the lesser-known candidates," said Christopher Hill, an airline pilot from Prospect, Ky., who called for tax reform that would let middle-class Americans keep more of their money. "Tonight, we stand for the lesser-known Americans."
Hugh Cort of Birmingham, Ala., warned that Iran is planning a nuclear attack on the United States in the very near future and called for a military strike "as soon as possible." Democrat Ed Cowan, a "writer/thinker" from Moretown, Vt., included the nuclear arms race among his list of the world's most pressing problems, but he candidly added: "Please understand, I do not have the answers. It's 'we,' not 'me,"' he said.
Likewise, Betzler Bear, a Republican from Philadelphia, paused for a bit when asked who he would pick as his running mate from among the major candidates if he won the nomination.
"I can't say I'm adequately prepared for that eventuality," he said, before naming Mitt Romney as his choice.
"There's no denying his success in business," he said. "I have a lot of confidence you could channel those skills to be a good second."
New Hampshire will hold the nation's first presidential primaries Jan. 10, with 30 Republicans and 14 Democrats from 26 states on the ballot. The number of candidates has fluctuated over the years, depending on whether an incumbent president was running. The all-time high was 1992, when there were 36 Democrats and 25 Republicans running. In 2008, there were 30 candidates, 21 Republicans and nine Democrats.
Michael Meehan of St. Louis, a real estate broker who turned to running for president when his work dried up, said he has been campaigning in New Hampshire for the last two months.
"Where else can you talk to people one on one and really get a chance to hear what people are saying?" said Meehan, a Republican.
"What if someone like me could finish in the top five?" he said. "What if we just took a chance?"
Associated Press material is included in this story.
Stephanie Bergman can reached at 978-283-7000 x3451 or sbergman@gloucestertimes.com
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