Our man in New Hampshire
You may not have seen him at any presidential debates, but Vermin Supreme was drawing crowds in the streets of New Hampshire this week. The quirky candidate — he wears a boot on his head and his campaign seeks to impose mandatory tooth-brushing, time-travel research and zombie preparedness — told Yeas & Nays that he’s disappointed that Sen. Barack Obama won’t debate him.
“What’s the deal?” said the 48-year-old activist and street-theater performer. “Is he soft on plaque? Is he soft on zombies? … These are the questions that the American people want to know.”
Why didn’t Supreme fare better Tuesday? “You’d think I’d have the crazy vote sewn up,” he said. “But then there’s [Dennis] Kucinich on one side and Ron Paul on the other.”
Supreme, who got his start in “politics” by running for mayor of Baltimore in 1986, has run for president several times. He’s had some success chatting up 2008 presidential candidates. Paul said he supported mandatory tooth-brushing and time-travel research. Hillary Clinton and John Edwards have ignored him when approached, and Supreme says that “the Giuliani goons” shoved him when he offered Rudy a clown nose.
We would have loved to have talked to Supreme for longer, but when he looked at his watch and discovered that it was 4:20 p.m. — pothead talk for “time to get high” — he abruptly left the interview.
