Unusual Candidates - Political Science Theme

Sups 0:01

Democracy sometimes is a bit too crazy.

Tanner 0:05

Is this why you said they're all female candidates They're not

Andi 0:08

this

Tanner 0:09

makes me think that it might be fake

Sups 0:11

Okay Just because she dropped the W

Andi 0:14

Yeah

Tanner 0:14

Yep,

Sups 0:18

Yeah. Like you raise one of those things like, it's so ridiculous that it's kind of

Tanner 0:22

Right You Oyster. and bacon I would vote for that.

Andi 0:26

Yeah. Hello and welcome to this episode of the Ah Should Have Known podcast, the trivia podcast that can't be trusted. Each week our Quizmaster presents you with four big facts on a topic, but one of those facts is a lie For the month of November, we are going to be celebrating political science as our theme. Don't turn it off yet. It's not gonna get too political. Just talking about government and elections and all those kinds of things, and I'm your first quizmaster. I'm Andy, and I'm going to be presenting you with a fine, the fake episode of Unusual Candidates. So I will present you with four candidates for political office in different countries, but one of them I have invented. So join our other hosts, Soups and Tanner, and trying to figure out which one of my candidates is.

Tanner 1:15

Yes.

Andi 1:16

Also, they're all female. Fun fact,

Tanner 1:19

interesting.

Andi 1:20

My low hanging fruit is not really an unusual candidate, but a funny moment in electoral history. The 1992 Vice Presidential candidate, Dan Quail, famously misspelled the name of what food?

Tanner 1:36

It was potato.

Andi 1:38

Yeah, He was at like a school doing a campaign. Yeah. Like event, and a child spelled potato. P O T A T O.

Tanner 1:48

Yes, you can spell better than Dan Quail.

Andi 1:50

So the child spells it and Dan Quail corrects him and is like, no one has an

Tanner 1:55

Quale

Andi 1:55

at the end. So it's like pote toe, like on your foot. And so this was a very kind of gaff Yeah. Of a politician. And kind of the vibe, today's episode

Tanner 2:07

Well that's pretty embarrassing for

Andi 2:09

him. I just think that's really funny. He's misspelled potato.

Tanner 2:11

PO potato toe

Andi 2:13

All right, I have four candidates for You have to figure out who's

Sups 2:16

these Okay.

Andi 2:17

Candidate number one is Gracie Allen for US President. So Gracie Allen ran for US President in 1940. she was a comedian like she and her husband, George Burns, They had a radio show together. Okay. She was running against Franklin Delano Roosevelt, fdr, who went on to win the election. Gracie did not win. Gracie ran for the surprise party. What was the name of our party? This, this is gonna be a theme. There are a lot of clever party names. and her campaign mascot was a kangaroo because it was a leap year.

Tanner 2:53

Oh

Andi 2:54

excellent. She kind of just said she was gonna do this. And then actually the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which is a newspaper. You can still actually read They wrote about the, Democratic and the Republican winners for their primaries, and then mentioned Gracie Allen wins 63 votes in Wisconsin So 63 people voted for her in Wisconsin. Okay. And since in the primary, you only vote within your party. So she won the most votes in her party cuz she was the only person in her party. So she won the Wisconsin primary. she announced this, it became a whole thing. And then she actually kind of started running and she was on ballots in different places. she made a lot of jokes and my favorite one was she had no vice presidential running mate because she would tolerate no vice

Tanner 3:38

Oh man, she sounds

Andi 3:39

Yeah she was really funny. Like a lot of this stuff, people were really worried about the national debt at that time. And she was like, Well, yeah, then let's just get rid of it. I'm against the debt. Yeah.

Tanner 3:48

Such a fresh take from politicians. That's nice to

Andi 3:51

hear. Yeah, she was, very fun. She dropped out before the election because she felt like people were taking it too seriously. And It was a joke. Yeah.

Tanner 4:00

That's

Sups 4:01

Hilarious

Andi 4:01

Yeah

Tanner 4:02

Oh man. She could definitely win some votes. It's probably good that she backed out because she would've drawn

Andi 4:08

Yeah Quotes There were some write-in Yeah. That election was a landslide for fdr, so Yeah. Kind of didn't matter.

Tanner 4:15

Yeah. Gracie Allen.

Andi 4:16

Crazy. Allen.

Sups 4:17

Yeah, so I feel like I've heard this name like in TV shows somewhere okay.

Tanner 4:22

Like an example of a joke candidate. Yeah. Yeah. That you would hear on tv. Okay. Interesting. I've never heard of this. Gracie Allen.

Andi 4:28

And she won the Wisconsin primary.

Tanner 4:30

I like that you put that in there, but it also kind of makes me think that it might be fake

Sups 4:34

Okay. Just because she dropped the W

Andi 4:37

Yeah

Tanner 4:37

Yep, She is from Wisconsin It might lend some legitimacy, but also it makes me skeptical. That one's definitely on the chopping block. That might be I have to hear the next candidate.

Andi 4:52

candidate number two. Kare Gu Rhino for Sao Paulo City Council. Okay.

Sups 4:58

Just get, hold over a second before you even begin to describe her, which one do think sounds more real now? Gracie

Tanner 5:07

or Yeah, Gra sounds more real.

Sups 5:12

now, please. Sorry, go ahead.

Andi 5:14

anyway. Okay. So Kaku was an actual rhino. From the Sao Paulo Zoo.

Tanner 5:23

Is this why you said they're all female candidates They're not

Andi 5:26

this is why I said they're all female. Cuz they're not all women because this is an actual rhino. A real Rhino os. Okay. this was in uh 1959 in the Sao Paulo City Council elections and, It gets weirder because she actually won, No. she won her election with a hundred thousand votes, which was 15% of the total vote. Wow. in Brazilian elections, cuz there are so many candidates, it's whoever gets the most. Right.

Tanner 5:55

thousand people voted for this Rhino.

Andi 5:57

Yes. Yes. God. So,

Sups 6:00

1959.

Tanner 6:01

Yeah

Andi 6:01

So what happened was some students. In Sao Paulo, they made these ballots with her name on them They made about 200,000 of them and about a hundred thousand came back with people actually choosing her on the ballot. People re quoted as saying Better to elect a rhino than an

Tanner 6:17

get

Sups 6:18

Door. nice.

Andi 6:20

So basically this time in Brazil was a time of turmoil. Their democracy is very, And there was a lot of political corruption. The economy was bad, and so a lot of young people felt very disillusioned during this election. There's actually a lot of absenteeism in the election, like people just didn't vote at all. Right. So yeah a lot of young people. this was like their form of protest was to put this rhino mm-hmm. on the ballot. And so election officials actually threw out the ballots and they had a new election because they said that they were fraudulent ballots. Yeah. Though the zoo insisted that the city pay her city councilship Salary Yes. And. In Portuguese means like, a little piece of trash. So it's like kind of, it's a throwaway vote. It's like a little piece of, trash. Yeah. And you can go and see her skull still today. Wow. On display at the Sao Paul Luum.

Sups 7:17

That's

Tanner 7:17

Nice. And does it say City Council. member

Andi 7:20

It should, It should. I think maybe it it should. Yeah Wow

Sups 7:23

It's amazing. That is super cool.

Tanner 7:25

I really wish that they would've let her hold office

Sups 7:27

seen

Tanner 7:29

I wanna see her policies

Sups 7:30

Well you know, this is like, So funny that it's true. Yeah. Like you raise one of those things like, it's so ridiculous that it's kind of

Tanner 7:38

Right you know, I love that it perfectly fits in with the idea of the time period, right? What would students do to protest like bad policies and corruption and things like this. Well, why don't we elect a rhino?

Andi 7:51

There are actually a lot. animals. put on ballots in different places. So it's not so unusual, but I, I picked her because she won.

Tanner 7:58

Yeah. That's

Andi 7:59

pretty great. She

Tanner 8:00

many joke

Andi 8:01

It's weird Yeah.

Tanner 8:02

it's so ridiculous, is probably

Sups 8:04

Yeah Okay. Maybe it's not a rhino. Maybe it's some other

Tanner 8:07

symbol Right. I'm trying to think too, of like, what's the dead giveaway? Like did they not have elections in

Sups 8:12

Yeah Yeah Or maybe it was under like a dictator

Tanner 8:16

Yeah. Could be

Sups 8:17

you know, unfortunately my contemporary Brazilian history. You do? No, not up to date. Yeah. But we've got two more. Yeah.

Andi 8:25

Okay. Candidate number three to Jolina for Italian parliament.

Tanner 8:31

Chile.

Andi 8:32

Lina is kind of the stage name for Iona Staler, who is a Hungarian Italian porn star and politician.

Tanner 8:41

Ah,

Andi 8:41

okay, Fun fact, chicho means ch So her name means like, cutey, female chubby one. Like She is very like, blessed in certain areas Right. Yes She was famously in many adult films. Mm-hmm. before 1987, when she was elected to Italian Parliament with 20,000 votes.

Tanner 9:04

She's another winner.

Andi 9:05

She won man. She was really really a, a member of parliament and she did lots of kind of entertaining things. before she was a politician, she was actually the first woman to pose naked in public in Italy. And she was also the first woman to appear topless on Italian tv.

Sups 9:22

It's good

Andi 9:23

And then she became a politician maybe are more familiar with a different Italian porn star

Tanner 9:29

Yeah I thought this was in the

Andi 9:31

Do you know of Mona Pui?

Sups 9:33

I've heard this

Andi 9:34

so her name is M O A N A. Which is Moana. Like the Disney movie? Yeah. Yeah. Which is why it's not called Moana in Europe because she is an Italian porn. Snow

Tanner 9:46

Yeah, Google, Moana,

Andi 9:48

Yeah and that comes up. So she and Chichi founded the Love party.

Tanner 9:53

Okay.

Andi 9:54

they ran. For Parliament and one, and She was quite the diplomat. Okay. She offered to have sex with Saddam Hussein, if he would bring peace to the region and not invade Kuwait.

Tanner 10:06

Wow.

Andi 10:07

Creative solutions I don't think he, he took her up on that offer because he did. And she also spoke before the Portuguese Parliament, topless Oh. So she was a good diplomat for Italy. But yeah, she ran for reelection and lost, So she only served one term

Tanner 10:23

I have heard of porn actresses winning in Italy political offices. So this sounds

Sups 10:30

like Yeah, I think Italy. one of the few countries where porn stars can eventually go and have a really decent political career Yeah. If they want you know,

Tanner 10:41

Julene now That's awesome that she

Andi 10:43

So it was in 87 she won. Yeah. She was in from 87 until 92.

Sups 10:48

yeah And now I'm thinking. If Sadam had said and they would've, you know, spent the night together Saddam Husen doesn't invite Kuwait. We don't have the first Gulf War.

Tanner 11:00

She would be a hero across Europe, you know, or around the world Oh man Would've changed history,

Sups 11:06

I think. Sadam dude, just say yes,

Tanner 11:10

He made the wrong choice, I think.

Andi 11:11

I dunno if the offer ever got to him. Like did he know

Tanner 11:14

Did she slide into his dms or what was going on back in 87?

Sups 11:19

Can

Andi 11:19

She should create diplomat

Tanner 11:20

I really hope it's

Sups 11:21

real. Yeah. I really wanna believe,

Tanner 11:24

So if it's made up, then. She didn't exist Oh Could be playing on our ideas of like, you know, this is a thing in Italian politics. Yeah.

Sups 11:35

Or rather you just assume because of, Certainly Yeah.

Tanner 11:38

I think it's probably

Sups 11:40

yeah. I also wanna believe, I think if we listen to number four, I think we'll be absolutely sure which one's the fake

Tanner 11:46

one.

Andi 11:46

All right, so your last candidate candidate number four. An angel on horseback for UK parliament.

Tanner 11:53

this is amazing

Sups 11:54

Democracy sometimes is a bit too crazy.

Andi 11:56

Yeah, So angel in horseback ran in 20 s. For Parliament her real name is Emily Tomlin and she's from Maiden Head in the Berkshires, which is where there may is from. ah So in British politics, when they announce the winners of the parliamentary elections, they put all the candidates up on a. and then read out the results. So because theres, in May in 2017 was the prime minister, whoever ran in maiden head would be up on a stage with her. So this is a kind of a common ish thing in British politics for people to do ridiculous stunts. in order to be up on the podium.

Tanner 12:36

Cause it's a throwaway vote

Andi 12:38

anyway. with the Prime Minister. Oh Yeah, She actually won 249 votes. Oh wow.

Tanner 12:43

So did you appear on a horse?

Andi 12:45

So this was the whole thing. the name, an angel on horseback is a joke because an angel on horseback is a British hors deu. It's an oyster wrapped in bacon.

Tanner 12:58

Okay. So it would be like in America, a pig in a

Andi 13:00

Yeah Yes, exactly.

Tanner 13:02

Okay.

Andi 13:02

So Emily Tomlin is an owner of Horse Riding Staples. So she raises horses. Mm-hmm. And so She campaigned on a horse in an angel costume, the, a little fake halo and everything, and she wanted to ride her horse onto the stage and they would not let her. So she had to just be in her

Sups 13:21

Oh no

Andi 13:22

on the stage What a shame Yeah so it's like a play on words. It's a joke,

Tanner 13:27

Yeah.

Andi 13:27

She ran with the dinner party. Oh, nice. Again of course. Another funny one. Yeah. And her platform was anti Brexit and animal welfare, those were those horses. Okay. Like platform

Tanner 13:39

Sometimes. I lose faith in democratic

Andi 13:42

process

Tanner 13:42

Yeah

Andi 13:44

Yeah. This is kind of a tradition in British

Sups 13:47

Yeah And also I think, this fits if something like this. Happens in England

Tanner 13:52

Yeah. sounds pretty believable.

Andi 13:56

also an angel on horseback. Sounds delicious.

Tanner 13:59

Yeah bacon Oyster. and bacon I would vote for that.

Andi 14:02

Yeah. Right. Yeah.

Tanner 14:04

I believe it But we need to hear 'em all again So could you repeat the four candidates so that we can guess which one is fake?

Andi 14:22

Candidate number one, Gracie Allen for US President candidate number two, Kaku the rhino for SA Paulo City Council candidate number three, Chi Yolina for Italian Parliament. And candidate number four, an angel on horseback for UK Parliament. So you can cast your ballot. Um, who you think is the fake.

14:47

[Mic bleed]

Tanner 14:47

All right. got some excellent candidates here. I can't really rule any out as definitely true

Sups 14:54

Yeah.

Tanner 14:55

You know the, porn one stands out to me because I'm reminded of Parks and Rec. There's a porn star candidate on that

Andi 15:01

Brandy Max. Yeah.

Tanner 15:04

This sounds very similar

Sups 15:05

similar to that Yeah, I know. What do you think of number one, number

Tanner 15:09

Gracie Allen. It sounds very believable. Yeah, I've heard of people having like joke parties like the surprise party or the birthday party or something. Yeah. So that sounds real. I hadn't heard of her, but running against FDR in that year. It was kind of a throwaway anyway it sounds like, it sounds believable to me What with the rhino

Sups 15:29

Rhino actually amongst the four rhinos, the most believable I mean, Brazil, 1959 students, she got all the right keywords there. Like, you know, that would make you believe So if that's a lie, that's an lie.

Tanner 15:45

then she won, but then got disqualified. So like That sounds realistic too.

Sups 15:49

Yeah. Right So I dunno. Okay. Take your pick and then I'll

Tanner 15:53

last time I might Mm-hmm. I think the porn star one is playing on our ideas of like the Parkston rec candidate and the other candidate who won later in Italy. So I think that one's fake.

Sups 16:06

You know what? I'll also pick the Italian porn star Yes. the other three are kind of believable.

Tanner 16:11

Yeah. I want the other ones to be true too. Not that I don't want the third one to be true, but I just think that she's lying.

Andi 16:17

The. Is number four. Ooh, the angel on a horseback horse back. So in that election that I mentioned, there's a recurring figure in British politics and it's Lord Buckethead.

Tanner 16:30

ah, I've

Andi 16:31

And he and he dresses up. In like all black with a bucket head. Yeah. and there's a very famous photo of him on the podium dabbing. With next to Teresa May right? Yeah. Yeah It's very funny. Also, she's from a place called Maiden Head. Not enough people talk about why, like Maiden Head, they have a town named Maiden Head. Yeah, Right That's so weird. Anyway, so Lord Buckethead, 1 249 votes in maiden head.

Tanner 16:58

Okay.

Andi 16:58

the angel on horseback. I just literally was like, Oh, I'm gonna name a candidate after some weird British food, cuz British food has such weird names and I look such egg Yeah exactly I just like looked it up like bangers and mash or like, Mm-hmm. So an angel and horseback is a food. way And I just I was like, Oh, it's a woman in an angel costume on a horse

Sups 17:17

No that's that's excellent. I mean, I'm happy that at least the customs and the traditions that's so British that

Andi 17:23

exist Yeah yeah.

Tanner 17:24

Yeah That's amazing. So you made up, what's her name? Tomlin

Andi 17:27

Emily Toman is a real candidate who ran for the Green Party Maiden Head in 2019 so I just borrowed her name. Sorry. Emily

Sups 17:35

Well town That was

Andi 17:36

Yeah maybe it was a little too good, but I, I think I was hungry and I just was like, I wanna make,

Sups 17:41

well, I should have known.

Tanner 17:42

I should have known.

Andi 17:43

Thanks for listening to this episode of the I Should Have Known podcast. We'll be continuing this political science theme for the rest of the month, so be on loca for that. And as always, thankss from this knee. Poe toe.