Term Limits and Mortality no Barrier to FDR's 2004 Campaign

Write-In Campaign aims to re-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt for a fourth (and posthumous) term.

LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2003

In an unusual write-in campaign backed by attractive campaign graphics and an apparent disregard for mortality, Democrats and Independents are being urged to vote for Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 2004 campaign.

“I know it’s in violation of term limits!” exclaims Bradley W. Schenck, an artist in California. “I don’t care! Presidential term limits were just a posthumous revenge on FDR by the Republicans, anyway.”

The “I Want Roosevelt Again” campaign seems to be in full swing at theretrovert.com. The campaign graphics, based on an original 1930’s campaign button, are available on bumper stickers, shirts, mugs, and cards. “Voters who are tired of two political parties who are afraid to sound any different from one another should consider voting for FDR, who was the 20th century’s original Great Communicator,” Schenck asserts. “Nobody is likely to mistake the architect of the New Deal with middle-of-the-road politics, and today’s democratic hopefuls could certainly learn a lot from an actual, pragmatic liberal.”

When questioned about the difficulties of electing a dead president, Schenck waves dismissively. “Electing him is easy. The interesting problem is how he serves his term, but we’re working on that. Trust me.”

About the Retrovert

TheRetrovert.com is an online source for restored vintage graphics newly applied to stylish, hygienic, and modern products. Visitors can browse through a wide selection of WPA poster art, New York Worlds Fair graphics, Crate Label designs, and vintage magazine covers from the days of the Great Depression. Yes, we still called “downturns” by that name, then. The site’s motto is “All That’s Old & Fit To Print”, which is a little ambitious; but it pales in the face of an effort to re-elect the dead, doesn’t it? I mean, think about it.

The site also hosts the official web presence of Local 404 of the Non-Conformists Union ("Organizing Against Conformity since 1903!")

"Dime Problem" Casts Shadow Over FDR's 2004 Campaign

What to do with millions of dollars worth of coinage that features the image of a president who is no longer deceased?

MINNEAPOLIS, September 13, 2004

The "I Want Roosevelt Again" campaign is reeling nationwide as the problem of what to do with Roosevelt dimes causes voters to question the cost of re-electing Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

"This issue has been raised as a purely political ploy to undermine FDR's chances of re-election," says Minneapolis artist and campaign manager Bradley W. Schenck. "All right, it's true that we have a tradition of not featuring living people on postage stamps and currency. No one here is arguing against that. But really, what's the problem? We're making history here!"

The public stance of the "I Want Roosevelt Again" campaign is that Democratic and Independent rivals have raised the "dime problem" in an effort to split the vote in favor of candidates with more traditional candidacies. But reporters note that behind the scenes, the workers at FDR's campaign headquarters in Minneapolis are scrambling to establish the validity of claims that FDR's re-election would cause a recall of millions, possibly even billions, of dollars worth of dimes, all of which feature the face of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

FDR's re-election campaign, which was launched in defiance of both term limits and mortality, kicked off in mid-2003 in California. Since then the campaign has grown and established its headquarters in Minnesota, with an active web site hosted at theretrovert.com. This grassroots campaign has grown through the efforts of volunteers who have chosen to re-elect the twentieth century's original "Great Communicator" - whose pragmatic version of liberal politics saw this nation through some of its most trying years, from the early days of the Great Depression to the later years of World War II.

The campaign's lively political bumper stickers and other regalia are available through its Internet base at the theretrovert.com. The campaign graphics, based on an original 1930's campaign button, are available on bumper stickers, shirts, mugs, and cards.

Had he lived, FDR would not have been eligible for re-election due to term limits - which were allegedly enacted by his political rivals, specifically to prevent him from serving a fifth term.

When questioned earlier, Schenck described the problems facing the campaign in this way: "Electing him is easy. The interesting problem is how he serves his term, but we're working on that. Trust me."

In the face of the "dime problem", that assessment may be due to change.