Candidate plugs into “news coverage”
A Towson author who is running a scaled-down presidential campaign now has a mock news video courtesy of an unknown fan.
Blaine Taylor, who is running in Maryland, is the star of a video made on a Web site that allows anyone to put themselves or friends into a mock-news report. Currently, he is only on the ballot in Maryland.
The “Channel 3″ report explains how the buzz grew about an unknown and unseen candidate on an online talk show hosted by a Maxim magazine model. (Sorry, there was no way to embed the video here so you’ll have to click.)
The video is almost as big a surprise as Taylor’s addition to the ballot in Maryland.
Taylor announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination last year but he was not placed in the state primary ballot.
One way to be placed on the ballot is for the secretary of state to certify the person as a candidate. That certification is based on whether or not “the candidate’s candidacy is generally advocated or recognized in the news media throughout the United States or in Maryland.”
The secretary of state judged that Taylor was not a viable candidate based on that standard.
The second way to be added to the ballot is to collect the signatures of 400 registered voters in each of the state’s eight congressional districts and petition the state Board of Elections to place the candidate’s name on the ballot.
But Taylor does not drive and said he would not collect the signatures. He rejected the state’s rules governing who may and may not run for office. Additionally, he’s running an unplugged campaign - neither raising nor spending on his candidacy - (which leaves more TV commercial time for 1st Congressional District Andy Harris and Frank Kratovil to slap each other around after newscasts).
Still, Taylor’s name now appears on the state ballot for the Nov. 4 general election as an unaffiliated candidate. He does not appear on the ballots in any other state. No word on how he’s polling in Maryland. RealClearPolitics.com only lists polls for the Barack Obama/John McCain contest.
In an e-mail, Taylor called the video “cute.” He says the video was forwarded to him, and he has no idea who made it.